Cinacalcet is efficacious in pediatric dialysis patients

Secondary hyperparathyroidism (high-turnover bone disease, or HTBD) is manifested by elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. Control of HTBD may be achieved by maintaining low serum phosphorous levels and administering vitamin D therapy, although some patients continue to exhibit high PTH levels. We report the results of the efficacy of the calcimimetic cinacalcet in six hemodialysis (HD) and three peritoneal dialysis (PD) pediatric patients with HTBD, age 14.5 ± 1.0 (range 7.5–17.5) years. Six patients received 30 mg/day, one required 60 mg/day, and two received 120 mg/day. Treatment with cinacalcet resulted in a 61% decline in intact PTH (iPTH) levels (1,070 ± 171.5 pretreatment to 417.6 ± 97.8 posttreatment pg/ml, p = 0.005). Serum alkaline phosphatase also declined (561.8 ± 169.6 U/L pretreatment to 390.3 ± 110.3 U/L posttreatment pg/ml). During therapy, serum calcium ( p = 0.9) and phosphorous ( p = 0.9) levels, calcium-phosphorous product ( p = 0.8), systolic blood pressure (BP) ( p = 1.0), diastolic BP ( p = 0.8), and hemoglobin ( p = 0.9) remained unchanged. The dose of oral calcitriol for the three patients on PD while receiving cinacalcet trended downward (0.8 ± 0.2 pretreatment vs. 0.5 ± 0.0 μg/day posttreatment pg/ml), as did the dose of paracalcitol for those receiving HD (6.6 ± 2.3 pretreatment vs. 4.3 ± 1.7 micrograms/day posttreatment pg/ml). We conclude that short-term treatment with the calcimimetic cinacalcet is efficacious in adolescent dialysis patients.