Strontium ranelate reduces the risk of vertebral fracture in young postmenopausal women with severe osteoporosis.

Objective: Early osteoporotic fractures have a great impact on disease progression, the first fracture being a major risk factor for further fractures. Strontium ranelate efficacy against vertebral fractures is presently assessed in a subset of women aged 50-65 years.

Methods: The Spinal Osteoporosis Therapeutic Intervention (SOTI) was an international, double blind, placebo controlled trial, supporting the efficacy of strontium ranelate 2 g/day in reducing the risk of vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and a prevalent vertebral fracture. 353 of these randomly assigned women were included in this analysis.

Results: Over 4 years, strontium ranelate significantly reduced the risk of vertebral fracture by 35% (relative risk 0.65; 95% CI 0.42 to 0.99, p<0.05). In the strontium ranelate group, the bone mineral density increased from baseline by 15.8% at lumbar spine and 7.1% at femoral neck.

Conclusions: These data demonstrate a significant vertebral antifracture efficacy of strontium ranelate in young postmenopausal women aged 50-65 years with severe osteoporosis and confirm the efficacy of this antiosteoporotic treatment to prevent vertebral fractures, whatever the age of the patient.