FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Screening for vitamin D deficiency should be part of the initial evaluation of patients with Paget's disease, Dr. Jennifer J. Kelly and Dr. Arnold M. Moses said in a poster presentation at a meeting sponsored by the Paget Foundation for Paget's Disease of Bone and Related Disorders.
Blood collected from 37 patients (mean age 72) at their initial visit to a metabolic bone clinic revealed that just three (8%) had levels of 25(OH)D considered to be optimal (greater than 32 ng/mL), while 21 (58%) were vitamin D deficient (below 20 ng/mL), said the investigators, of the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse.
The median 25(OH)D level among the 24 men in the group was 20 ng/mL, compared with just 13 ng/mL among the 13 women. Women were more likely than men (5 vs. 2) to be grossly deficient (0–9 ng/mL), while men were in the majority in the intermediate range between 10 and 32 ng/mL (20 men vs. 7 women). Levels greater than 32 ng/mL were seen in only two men and one woman.
Season also influenced 25(OH)D levels, which were on average 9 ng/mL higher during the “light” months (May-September) than during the “dark” period of November-March. Of the 13 patients whose blood had been collected during the light months, 7 (54%) had 25(OH)D levels of 20 ng/mL or above, compared with just 3 (20%) of the 15 sampled during the dark months. Women had lower median vitamin D levels than men in both the light and dark months.