A 68-year-old man with a history of organic heart disease and marked weight loss was found to have apathetic thyrotoxicosis and hypercalcemia. Oral propranolol, 20.0 mg four times a day, provoked a gradual fall in serum calcium and alkaline phosphatase. It is concluded that relatively small doses of oral propranolol may be effective in the management of hypercalcemia accompanying thyrotoxicosis and that beta-blocking agents may not only inhibit the enhanced bone resorption caused by thyroid hormones but also block the stimulated osteoblastic activity.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Protrusio acetabuli in osteoporosis and osteomalacia.

Protrusio Acetabuli (PA) occurs in various rheumatic conditions and metabolic bone disorders as a result of bony remodeling in the pelvis. We sought evidence of early PA in patients with biopsy-proven postmenopausal osteoporosis and osteomalacia using a quantitative radiographic index of protrusion. The values in osteoporotic patients were not significantly different from those in controls and did not correlate with bone density measurements. In osteomalacia, the index was significantly increased relative both to the osteoporosis and control groups; early PA was found in 50% of patients with osteomalacia. This simple radiographic measurement may be useful in the differential diagnosis of osteopenia.

Acetabulum↗