[Ten fractures in 21 years].

A 78 year old woman had suffered ten spontaneous bone fractures, the first occurring when she was 57 years old. She is now wheel-chair bound. After 21 years, the underlying osteomalacia due to oligosymptomatic celiac disease with malabsorption was diagnosed. The treatment consists of a gluten free diet and substitution of calcium and vitamin D until there is a normalisation of calcium, vitamin D and alkaline phosphatase. Any spontaneous fracture deserves a careful search for metabolic bone disease. An elevation of alkaline phosphatase indicates osteomalacia rather than osteoporosis.