Treatment Marble Bone Disease

Corti costeroids high dose calcitriol have been helpful in the treatment of osteopetrosis.

Treatment marble bone disease.

Osteopetrosis can cause bones to dissolv. Bone marrow transplant is the only complete cure available for malignant marble bone disease. However in cases of children affected with osteopetrosis treatment involves treating complications and improving quality of life. Bone marrow transplant has many risks but if it is successful it saves the life of a child who would otherwise die from complications of the disorder.

Bone marrow transplant and splenectomy may be useful in some patients. This allows the restoration of bone resorption by donor derived osteoclasts. Osteopetrosis literally stone bone also known as marble bone disease or albers schönberg disease is an extremely rare inherited disorder whereby the bones harden becoming denser in contrast to more prevalent conditions like osteoporosis in which the bones become less dense and more brittle or osteomalacia in which the bones soften. Complications of paget s disease of bone can include broken bones hearing loss and pinched nerves in your spine.

Bisphosphonates the medications also used to strengthen bones weakened by osteoporosis are the mainstay of treatment. What are treatments for osteopetrosis or marble bone disease. This treatment resulted in improvement of growth retardation. Bone marrow transplantation bmt markedly improves some cases of severe infantile osteopetrosis associated with bone marrow failure and offers the best chance of longer term survival for individuals with this type.

Advertisement in cases of osteopetrosis in adults there are no treatments required. In pediatric childhood osteopetrosis surgery is sometimes needed because of fractures. Treatment strategies include correcting anemia thrombocytopenia and treating infections. Therapeutic agents that can be used to treat marble bone disease include gamma interferon a protein that delays progression of the disease or calcitriol a vitamin d compound that stimulates osteoclasts to dissolve and absorb bone.

A recently published article6 reported on the follow up of seven patients with marble bone disease who had received alkaline therapy.