Intraperitoneal calcitriol in infants on peritoneal dialysis.

BACKGROUND: Calcitriol has long been used as the main therapy in renal osteodystrophy, but the efficacy of the oral route is not always as high as expected. OBJECTIVE: To asses the safety and efficacy of intraperitoneal calcitriol in infants undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: PD patients on oral calcitriol therapy, with serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) >1000 pg/mL during the previous 3 months of treatment, were switched to intraperitoneal calcitriol therapy, 1 microg twice per week. Dose was increased to 1 microg three times per week if PTH remained >1000 pg/mL, and was later readjusted. Target PTH was 200-300 pg/mL according DOQI guidelines. STATISTICS: All results are expressed as mean +/- SE. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to evaluate differences in measurements for each pair of values. The confidence interval for differences between population medians was 96.9%. A p value less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Six male children, mean age 17 +/- 3.86 months, completed a 12-month follow-up. Mean pretreatment PTH was 1654 +/- 209 pg/mL. Mean PTH at months 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 was 1448 +/- 439*, 1277 +/- 723, 910 +/- 704, 582 +/- 282*, and 465 +/- 224* pg/mL, respectively (*p < 0.05). Twelve hypercalcemic and 10 hyperphosphatemic episodes were successfully treated. CONCLUSION: Infants on PD who fail to respond to oral calcitriol therapy can be safely treated with intraperitoneal administration of active vitamin D.