Prolonged use of low-dose LMWH (dalteparin) may carry a risk of osteoporosis and pathological fractures, even in young patients.
Potential LMWH osteoporosis risk warrants vigilance in prolonged use; leaves open need for monitoring or incidence studies.
Osteoporosis is a well-recognized complication of long-term heparin (unfractionated) therapy. It has been suggested that the low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) have a lower potential to cause osteopenia than the unfractionated preparations. We report a case of a 29-year-old woman who developed osteoporosis and pathological fracture of lumbar vertebrae following treatment with low dose LMWH (dalteparin) for 3 months. The aim of this report is to alert clinicians to the potential risk of this complication with the prolonged use of LMWH preparations--an increasingly popular choice for long-term anticoagulation.
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Sivakumaran et al. (1996) studied this question.
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