Vertebral Fracture and Osteonecrosis Associated With High-dose Glucocorticoid

Osteonecrosis, Rheumatic Diseases, Vertebral Fracture

osteoporosis, glucocorticoid, bone mineral density, osteonecrosis of the femoral head

Osteoporotic vertebral fracture (VF) and osteonecrosis of the femoral head (OFH) are major concerns in patients with systemic rheumatic diseases treated with high-dose glucocorticoids (GCs). The investigators examined and compared the incidence and risk factors of VF with those of OFH in patients who had recently received high-dose GC therapy to clarify the relationship between these two complications.

Patients with rheumatic diseases receiving GCs (≧0.5 mg/kg/day for prednisolone equivalent) within the past 2 months were enrolled in this study, and treated with 200 mg/day of etidronate cyclically. The bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar spines (L2-4) was examined by QDR2000. OFH was evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00679978. Forty-four patients completed the 2-year study including annual X-rays and the BMD analysis. MRI evaluation at entry and 2 years was performed in 41 patients. The BMD values with anteroposterior (AP) and lateral views decreased by 6.4% and 9.7% respectively in the first year, but were stable in the second year. Eleven patients developed VF and 9 patients developed OFH. The risk factors for VF included previous VF and a low BMD value (T score \< -1.5) of AP view at baseline with odds ratio (OR) 14.9 (95%CI 2.9-76.4), while the risk factor for OFH was the recent maximum GC dosage (\>1.2 mg/kg/day versus ≦; OR=7.7, 95%CI 1.3-45.5) and the decrease in BMD value of lateral view (\>15% versus ≤; OR=6.7, 95% CI 1.2-36.1) in the first year.

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