MedWire News: Cortical osteoporosis is common in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) , regardless of severity of illness, study findings from Brazil suggest.
Bone density is lower in patients with asymptomatic PHPT, especially in the cortical regions, but the site-specific impact of the disease is less well known in patients with symptomatic PHPT and renal stones (RS), or osteitis fibrosa cystica (OFC), observe Francisco Bandeira and co-workers, from University of Pernambuco Medical School in Recife.
To investigate further, the team used dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and 1/3 radius to examine 12 men and 37 women with PHPT who were classified as asymptomatic (n=25), or diagnosed with RS disease (n=17) or OFC (n=7).
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Densitometry, osteoporosis of the lumbar spine was diagnosed in 48% of asymptomatic patients, 18% of those with RS, and 100% of patients with OFC. Femoral neck osteoporosis was diagnosed in 20%, 12%, and 86% of these patients, respectively, and 1/3 radius osteoporosis in 71%, 53%, and 86%, respectively.
The high prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with OFC “emphasizes that the metabolic derangements of severe PHPT cause a generalized bone loss, including trabecular and cortical sites, even at a younger age,” Bandeira et al write.
Lumbar spine osteoporosis was more common in asymptomatic and RS patients than expected for general population, and the prevalence of 1/3 radius osteoporosis was high, but femoral neck osteoporosis was comparable in asymptomatic and RS patients with the general population.
“Our findings demonstrated a high prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with PHPT, especially in the cortical bone, even in younger patients independently of the severity of the disease,” the researchers conclude.
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