A Study of Bone Density of Scleroderma Patients and Comparison with Control Group in Khuzestan Province since in the Last Three Years

Systemic Sclerosis is a chronic, multisystem disorder of unknown etiology, characterized clinically by thickening of the skin caused by accumulation of connective tissue, and by involvement of visceral organs, such as GI tract, lung, heart, kidney and musculoskeletal system. Osteoporosis is a complication of this disease that was evaluated in this study.

This study was conducted to estimate the density of lumbar spine (L2-L4) and femoral neck among the patients with scleroderma and control group. On the basis of physical examination and history, none of the control group had risk factor for osteoporosis. 55 scleroderma female patients (mean age 39/09) were selected randomly and 56 healthy females (mean age 31/51) were selected as the control group. We measured bone mineral density (BMD) with dual energy x ray absorptiometry (DEXA).

The mean BMD of lumbar spine (L2-L4) was 0/79 gr/cm2compared to mean of 0/93 gr/cm2of the control group. The mean of femoral neck BMD was 1/02 gr/cm2compared to mean of control group with 1/15 gr/cm2. Both results were significant (P<0.05).

The result of this study showed reduction of femoral neck & lumbar spine (L2-L4) BMD and this reduction was more significant in the lumbar spine (L2-L4).