Musculoskeletal and Endocrine Health in Adults With Cerebral Palsy: New Opportunities for Intervention.

CONTEXT: Cerebral palsy (CP) increases fracture risk through diminished ambulation, nutritional deficiencies, and anticonvulsant medication use. Studies examining bone mineral density (BMD) in adults with CP are limited.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relationship between body composition, BMD, and fractures in adults with CP. The effect of functional, nutritional, and endocrine factors on BMD and body composition is also explored.

DESIGN

Retrospective cross-sectional study.

SETTING AND

PARTICIPANTS

Forty-five adults with CP (mean age, 28.3 ± 11.0 years) who had dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry imaging at a single tertiary hospital between 2005 and 2015.

RESULTS

Seventeen (38%) had a past history of fragility fracture; 43% had a Z-score of ≤ -2.0 at the lumbar spine (LS) and 41% at the femoral neck (FN). In nonambulatory patients, every one unit decrease in FN Z-score increased the risk of fracture 3.2-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.07-9.70; P = .044). Stepwise linear regression revealed that the Gross Motor Function Classification System was the best predictor of LS Z-score (R(2) = 0.550; β = -0.582; P = .002) and FN Z-score (R(2) = 0.428; β = -0.494; P = .004); 35.7% of the variance in BMD was accounted for by lean tissue mass. Hypogonadism, present in 20% of patients, was associated with reduced lean tissue mass and reduced LS BMD. Lean tissue mass positively correlated with BMD in eugonadal patients, but not in hypogonadal patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Low BMD and fractures are common in adults with CP. This is the first study to document hypogonadism in adults with CP with detrimental changes in body composition and BMD.