Longitudinal Assessment of Growth, Mineral Metabolism, and Bone Mass in Pediatric Crohn's Disease

In children with inflammatory bowel disease, controversy continues about the use of long-term alternate day prednisone therapy (ADP) to suppress disease activity and to encourage appetite and growth. One possible side effect of both disease process and prednisone therapy is risk of development of osteoporosis. To evaluate this risk factor, growth, biochemical indices of mineral and vitamin D status, and bone mass were measured in nine …