A Semi-Experimental Study to Assess Whether the Current Recommended Protocol for Treating Vitamin D Deficiency is Enough?

BACKGROUND: Urbanization and diet change have increased the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency. Unfortunately, none of the suggested treatments is widely accepted. OBJECTIVES: Therefore, we evaluated the most used and suggested protocol for treating Vitamin D deficiency in Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) candidate patients referred to our hospital in a short-term clinical trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients with coronary artery disease, referred to our hospital and candidates for PCI (drug eluted stents) were included. Deficient patients were randomly assigned to treatment (Vitamin D3 pearls of 50,000 IU; one per week for 10 weeks then one pearl every month for maintenance) and non-treatment groups. Vitamin D was measured after nine months. RESULTS: After initial evaluation, 116 cases were found to be deficient, and were divided into two equal groups of 58. No significant difference was found between the normal, treated and non-treated groups regarding age and gender. Thirty-two out of 58 (55.1%) subjects were vitamin D deficient and reached normal levels by taking supplements and seven out of 58 (12%) were deficient and reached normal levels without taking supplements, with the difference being significant (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The used protocol is not enough for treating Vitamin D deficiency. Furthermore, the protocol should be revised according to baseline Vitamin D classification.