HIGH-DOSE vitamin D has been shown to be successful in increasing vitamin D levels in patients with cystic fibrosis and vitamin D deficiency, according to a poster presented at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference. In patients with cystic fibrosis, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with worsening lung disease, which is why daily vitamin D supplementation is prescribed; however, vitamin D deficiency remains common in these patients.
Jillian Sullivan, Larner College of Medicine, The University of Vermont, Burlington, USA, and colleagues assessed whether including stoss, a high-dose vitamin D therapy of 500,000 IU, into routine clinical care would help patients with vitamin D levels lower than 30 mg/mL reach a level equal to or greater than 30 ng/mL. Fifty-six patients aged 5 years and older, who were treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center’s adult and paediatric cystic fibrosis clinics, were included in this study. The team used a swim lane diagram and plan–do–study–act cycles to incorporate stoss therapy into the clinic’s routine and to measure improvements, and measured vitamin D levels at baseline. In total, 62% of patients had vitamin D levels of 20–29 mg/mL, and 38% had levels lower than 20 ng/mL.
Forty-five patients were given stoss therapy, and 37 had repeat vitamin D levels taken after a mean of 115 days. Following one dose of stoss therapy, 46% of patients had a vitamin D level of 30 ng/mL or higher, while 19% had a level lower than 20 ng/mL.
Sullivan and colleagues concluded: “Stoss vitamin D dosing can be successfully implemented in routine cystic fibrosis care and increases vitamin D levels in [persons with cystic fibrosis] and vitamin D deficiency.”
