Introduction:

Glucocorticoid replacement therapy is still the treatment´s paradigm in the classic forms of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Its effects on bone mineralization are not entirely clear.

Objective:

Describe bone mass-related variables in congenital adrenal hyperplasia patients receiving substitute steroid treatment.

Method:

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted exploring clinical, biochemical, hormonal and bone mineralization variables in 25 patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia caused by 21OHase deficiency and steroid treatments.

Results:

21 women (84.0%); the largest group was of adolescents between the age of 10 and 19 years (52%).Classical forms predominated with 22 patients (88.0%), including 13 of them (52%) that were salt losers, 9 simple virilizers (36.0%) and only 3 (12.0%) of non-classical forms. The most commonly used steroid was hydrocortisone in 16 patients (64%), at an average dose of 22.10±12.00 mg daily, corresponding to 17.09±5.71 mg/m2sc/day and on average carried 14.02±6.57 years of substitute therapy. No alterations in the phosphocalcic metabolism were detected. Density and bone mineral content in the spinal column and femur showed higher values in non-classical forms of the disease, followed by simple virilizing and finally the salt loser patients, in none of the cases with statistical significance.

Conclusions:

Patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia in this study showed mostly preserved bone mass.

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