[Biologico-mechanical behavior of bone in osteomalacia and in phosphate diabetes in adulthood]

Abstract

The main orthopedic complications in osteomalacia, skeletal deformities, Looser's transformation zones and fractures, are described. The limited value of a Looser's transformation zone as a radiographic diagnostic criterion for osteomalacia is mentioned, because such zones can also occur in other bone diseases with abnormal remodeling. This paper also outlines the differential diagnosis of a Looser zone against a stress fracture. In osteomalacia and phosphate diabetes the biological and mechanical properties of bone are different. In adult phosphate diabetes radiological examination is more likely to reveal osteosclerosis than a radio-opaque bone. For this reason we investigated the bone healing process in five adult patients with osteomalacia and in six with phosphate diabetes. In spite of the small number of patients we may assume that bone healing after surgery is delayed in phosphate diabetes compared with osteomalacia, in which a normal bone healing tendency is present.