Response to Sodium Fluoride in Severe Primary Osteoporosis

Abstract

A man with severe primary osteoporosis was treated with 88 to 110 mg sodium fluoride per day for 122 weeks. During this time balance measurements demonstrated a significant and increasingly great retention of calcium. The maximum retention was 108 mg calcium per day, as contrasted with a loss of 64 mg per day before treatment and 2 mg per day 26 weeks after treatment was discontinued. Quantitative radiographic measurements made before, during and after treatment showed a significant increase of bone density during treatment in all bones examined (11 to 27 per cent in a phalyngeal bone, 21% in the os calcis and 33% or greater in the distal ulna). The changes were more marked in the metaphyses than dia-physes of the bones examined. There was relief of back pain after about 4 months of treatment, and no manifestations of toxicity were encountered.