RESEARCH - Fractures, spine OA inversely linked with osteoporosis

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Fractures, spine osteoarthritis inversely linked with osteoporosis

By Reuters Health

February 28, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Feb 28 - In postmenopausal women with

osteoporosis, there is an inverse relationship between osteoarthritis

of the spine, defined as either the presence of disk space narrowing

or osteophytes, and vertebral fractures, study findings suggest.

Writing in the ls of the Rheumatic Diseases for February, the

study team notes that while the coexistence of osteoarthritis and

osteoporosis is " uncommon, " it has been suggested that disk space

narrowing in postmenopausal women increases the risk of vertebral

fractures.

But Dr. Christian Roux of Paris-Descartes University, Cochin Hospital

in France, and colleagues say their findings do not support this.

Among a cohort of 410 women with osteoporosis and an average age of 74

years, the overall prevalence of vertebral fractures was 52.4%.

" We observed a high prevalence of osteoarthritis for both osteophytes

(90% of patients) and disk space narrowing (65% of patients), " Dr.

Roux and colleagues report.

They also report that the presence of at least one osteophyte was

" sufficient to decrease significantly the presence of vertebral

fractures. " The odds ratio adjusted for age and weight was 0.38 for

the presence of at least one osteophyte; it was 0.27 for at least

three disc narrowings.

In a subgroup of patients without disc space narrowing, the proportion

of patients with more than three vertebral fractures was 25.2%. In

another subgroup in which all patients had at least one disk space

narrowing, 15.9% had more than three vertebral fractures.

This study, Dr. Roux and colleagues conclude, shows that " disc space

narrowing and osteophytes are associated with a decreased vertebral

fracture prevalence in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. "

" Osteophytes reflect bone formation and the metabolic changes that

lead to osteophytes may favor formation activity of bone, " the

investigators offer.

By Rauscher

Last Updated: 2008-02-27 13:13:49 -0400 (Reuters Health)

Ann Rheum Dis 2008;67:224-228.

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