Glucocorticoid-induced Osteopenia in Children

The purpose of this study is to characterize the skeletal deficits and risk factors for impaired skeletal development in children requiring glucocorticoid therapy. We will compare the bone health of children treated with prednisone for nephrotic syndrome (NS with those treated with prednisone for Crohn's Disease (CD). Childhood NS usually responds to prednisone and is not characterized by pathologies that can impact on bone. In contrast, CD is treated with prednisone, but is independently associated with poor growth and maturation, nutritional deficiencies and inflammation. Due to the differences in the diseases, this comparison will allow us to distinguish between the prednisone-related and disease-related effects on bone in the two disease states.