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low.
Pathogenesis
osteoporosis in that bone formation is said to be more suppressed compared with bone resorption.
Diagnosis of CIOP Clinical risk factors and may not
BACKGROUND
Osteoporosis Skeletal fragility Decreased bone mass
Patients on CS therapy Risk of sustaining fractures. In patients with RA Incidences of hip, vertebral, and distal
CS are used, bone loss may already be present even before CS are started.
PROBLEMS
What is osteoporosis? How can corticosteroid therapy cause osteoporosis? What is management to prevent corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis?
Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA): Gold standard. Diagnosis BMD is less than or equal to 2.5 standard
deviations (T - Score).
WHO: Criteria for the Diagnosis of Osteoporosis (1) CATEGORY
Normal Osteopenia Osteoporosis Severe Osteoporosis CRITERIA (EXPRESSED AS T - SCORE)
Patient BMD 1 SD of average peak young adult BMD (T-score, 0 to -1)
Patient BMD between 1 SD and 2.5 SD below average peak young adult BMD (T-score, -1 to -2.5) Patient BMD 2.5 SD below average peak young adult BMD (T-score, 2.5) Patient BMD 2.5 SD below average peak young adult BMD with fragility fractures
Fractures: Most frequent and serious complication. Hip fractures: The second most common type
fracture Post-menopausal woman not receiving HRT Premature menopause at <45 year or male hypogonadism Age > 65 year Planned or current CS use of > 6 months Low BMI: < 20 kgum2 History of low trauma maternal hip fracture at < 60 year Other causes of osteoporosis, e.g. alcohol excess, RA, Hyperparathyroidism, thyrotoxicosis
therapy.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) Hip, vertebral,
in lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD have been found in pre-menopausal patients.
In
Prevalence of
PATHOGENESIS
Mechanism of CIOP : Uncertain Different from that
DIAGNOSIS
In post-menopausal osteoporosis Risk of osteoporotic
fractures has been shown to be doubled for each standard deviation decrease in BMD This may underestimate the risk for patients treated with CS.
Quantitative ultrasound measurements to identify risk of
1.
2.
3.
addressed
in
steroid-treated
population
BMD
therapy .
In patients with no clinical risk factors for CIOP:
therapy.
It is recommended that all patients on CS should be advised to modify their lifestyle factors known to affect bone such as limiting cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption,
prevent falls.
Primary prevention.
Primary prevention is treatment started at the time of initiation (up to 3 months) of CS therapy(1,2). Calcium supplementation, up to 1000 mg daily, alone is ineffective in preventing CS-induced bone loss. 1. Calcitriol. Dose of 0.6 mg per day, prevent bone loss at the lumbar spine, no effect at the femoral neck or distal radius. 2. Calcitonin. The results of using calcitonin has been conflicting. In the study by Sambrook et al, the addition of nasal calcitonin did not confer any additional protective effect. Healey et al. found that calcitonin was no better than calcium and vitamin D in protecting against Calcitriolualfacalcidol.
of whom 14 had just started CS. They found a 2.2% increase in lumbar spine
BMD after 2 year in the group taking sodium fluoride 25 mg twice daily with calcium compared with a 3% loss in the calcium-alone group. 4. Alendronate. In patients with sarcoidosis on CS, alendronate (5 mg daily) prevented bone loss at the ultradistal radius compared with a 4.5% loss in the placebo group over 1 year.
5. Pamidronate. Intermittent intravenous pamidronate has been shown to increase lumbar spine BMD by 3.6% and hip BMD by 2.2%
Secondary prevention.
Secondary prevention is treatment started >1 year after the initiation of CS therapy or following an osteoporotic fracture and implies established bone loss. 1. Calcium and vitamin D. Calcium and vitamin D was more effective than calcium alone or no therapy in the treatment of CIOP at the lumbar spine with a 3.2% difference in BMD between treatment and control. The doses: 400 IU daily to 50 000 IU/week .
spine BMD in the first year of treatment by 2.7% and maintained the
gain for a second year compared with a decrease in the placebo group over the 2 year. In CS-treated RA patients, nasal calcitonin prevented
femoral neck but not lumbar spine bone loss compared with calcium
alone.
4. Fluoride. Using sodium monofluorophosphate (100 mg twice daily) with calcium, there was an increase in lumbar spine BMD of 11%
6. Etidronate.
8. Pamidronate.
bisphosphonates: Effective to varying degrees in the prevention and treatment of CIOP, and maintaining or improving BMD.
All patients on CS modify lifestyle factors.
regard.
Comparison between therapeutic agents is complicated by
the variation in CS dose, varying therapeutic regimes and by small sample sizes without the power to study fracture
incidence.
1. Yeap SS, Hosking DJ. Management of Corticosteroid - Induced Osteoporosis. Rheumatology 2002; 41: 10881094. 2. Heaney RP. Calcium, Dairy Products and Osteoporosis. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 2000; 19: 83S-99S. 3. Heaney RP. Bone Health. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1997; 85: 300S303S. 4. Shah SK. Prednisone-Induced Osteoporosis: An Overlooked and Undertreated Adverse Effect. JAOA Vol 106 2006; 11: 653-657. 5. Tobias JH. Management of steroid-induced osteoporosis: what is the current state of play? Rheumatology 1999; 38: 19820. 6. Miller GD, Jarvis JK, McBean LD. The Importance of Meeting Calcium Needs with Foods. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 2001; 20: 168S-185S. 7. Sambrook P, Birmingham J, Kelly P. Prevention of Corticosteroid Osteoporosis -- A Comparison of Calcium, Calcitriol, and Calcitonin. N Engl J Med Vol 328 1993; 17471752. 8. Reid DM. Corticosteroid-Induced Osteoporosis: Guidelines for Prevention. Are They Useful? British Journal of Rheumatology 1997; 36: 1035-1037.