Fusaro M, Cianciolo G, Tripepi G, et al. - Findings demonstrate a significant link between oral calcitriol and lower vertebral fracture (VF) in hemodialysis (HD) patients without an increment in vascular calcification burden.

• This is a secondary analysis of the Vitamin K Italian (VIKI) study, a cross-sectional study comprising 387 HD patients.

• Treatment with oral calcitriol was received by 177 of 387 patients (45.7%).

• Patients taking oral calcitriol had lower prevalence of VF than those untreated (48.6% vs 61.0%), whereas similar presence of aortic and iliac calcifications was evident.

• Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed a 40.2% decreased odds of fracture (OR 0.598) in relation to treatment with oral calcitriol.