If oversuppression of bone turnover explained the association between bisphosphonate use and atypical subtrochanteric femur fractures (AFF), this could be reversed with anabolic treatment such as teriparatide. They conducted a prospective, open-label study in patients previously treated with bisphosphonates who sustained AFF, examining the response to 24-month treatment with teriparatide on bone mineral density (BMD), trabecular bone score (TBS), bone turnover markers (BTM), and fracture healing as well as quantitative histomorphometry. Treatment with teriparatide resulted in increases in BTM and lumbar spine BMD, as has been reported for patients without AFF. There was no significant effect of teriparatide on hip BMD, mineralizing surface to bone surface (MS/BS), or TBS and no consistent effect on fracture healing. In the context of a patient who has experienced an AFF after receiving bisphosphonate treatment, therapy with teriparatide for 24 months would be expected to increase BMD and BTM (and probably reduce the risk of fractures resulting from osteoporosis) but should not be relied on to aid in healing of the AFF.
J Bone Miner Res. 2017 May;32(5):1027-1033. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.3081. Epub 2017 Feb 7.
Watts NB, Aggers D, McCarthy EF, Savage T, Martinez S, Patterson R, Carrithers E, Miller PD.
