Bisphosphonates are widely used in the treatment of osteoporosis.The Intravenous bisphosphonate, Zoledronic acid (ZA) does not cause the gastrointestinal side effects associated with oral bisphosphonates and can be given as a once yearly infusion. ZA has the rare potential to cause hypophosphatemia. However, when reported, the hypophosphatemia following ZA infusion has been in the setting of treatment of oncological conditions such as hypercalcemia of malignancy and bone metastases. We present a case of severe and prolonged hypophosphatemia in a patient with post-menopausal osteoporosis and mild normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism who received a single dose of 5 mg of intravenous ZA. The severe hypophosphatemia manifested itself almost 2 months after the administration of the medication. The patient required very high doses of both oral and intravenous phosphate throughout the duration of her prolonged stay in hospital with failure to normalize the serum phosphate levels even after 13 days.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.