Recombinant parathyroid hormone for hypoparathyroidism in children: A narrative review

Abstract

The conventional management of hypoparathyroidism in children involves the use of calcium and Vitamin D analogs. This therapy effectively increases the serum calcium levels but worsens hypercalciuria and its consequences such as nephrocalcinosis and renal insufficiency. Although replacement with the missing parathyroid hormone (PTH) is ideal and available for more than 2 decades, the reported concerns of osteosarcoma prohibited its use in children with open epiphyses. Nevertheless, the data accumulated over the past several years suggests that the fears of bone malignancies were probably overstated. With an aim to review the available data on recombinant PTH (rhPTH) use, we performed a literature search using international databases and identified 15 studies involving approximately 70 children with hypoparathyroidism due to various etiologies who received rhPTH1-34 for durations between 1 day and 13.5 years. All the studies appear to indicate that rhPTH1-34 therapy is an effective short and long-term strategy for treatment of hypoparathyroidism with better metabolic control, lesser effects on renal function and improved quality of life as compared to conventional therapy. A more significant conclusion is the safety of long-term use of rhPTH1-34 with no observed adverse skeletal effects so far. However, all studies mention the importance of a continued surveillance for adverse effects in the treated patients. This narrative review discusses the experience of rhPTH1-34 use exclusively in children.