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Joint hypermobility a poor predictor of Osteogenesis imperfecta in pediatric patients
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Compared with scoliosis and cranial base anomalies, researchers found joint hypermobility to be a poor predictor of Osteogenesis imperfecta in pediatric patients.
In a cross-sectional, one-center study, the researchers retrospectively analyzed the radiographs of 47 Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) patients between the ages of 1 and 19 years to determine whether joint hypermobility could be used as a biomarker for OI. The researchers recorded the presence of joint hypermobility, scoliosis and craniovertebral abnormalities and explored any potential connections between these occurrences using correlation analysis.
According to data in the study, 64% of the patients represented mild, type I OI, 21% of the patients had moderate types IV and VI, and 15% had severe type III OI. The researchers observed joint hypermobility in 70% and scoliosis in 26% of the patients. Twenty-six percent of patients were found to have at least one form of cranial anomaly. Nine patients were found to have platybasia, eight had basilar impression and seven had basilar invagination, according to the researchers.
Whereas joint hypermobility was found to be independent of the severity of OI, prevalence of scoliosis and cranial anomalies were more commonly observed among patients with moderate and severe types of OI vs. those with mild-type OI.
Although the researchers found no association between joint hypermobility and height Z-score, they did find a significant positive correlation between scoliosis and the presence of some form of cranial anomaly.
Sixty-four percent of patients had received treatment with biophosphonates, with an average treatment time of 4.3 years before cranial imaging took place.
Within the subgroup of patients treated with biophosphonates, phi coefficient analysis again indicated no association between joint hypermobility and scoliosis or cranial anomaly; however, a significant association was observed between scoliosis and cranial anomaly, according to the researchers.
The researchers concluded that general severity of disease remained the best way to predict development of spinal complications. – by Robert Linnehan
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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