Source: DGNews  |  Posted 9 years ago

By Jill Stein
Special to DG News

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- September 23, 2002 -- New findings reported at the 24th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) suggest that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk for severe vertebral fractures.

The data were reported by Dr. Alexandra Papaioannou, with McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, His group compared the prevalence and severity of vertebral fractures in patients with COPD compared with an age- and sex-matched control population.

The investigation included 143 COPD patients and 143 controls. All COPD patients were 50 years of age or older and had undergone a chest x-ray with two views.

Outcome measures were established using the following: chart reviews for diagnoses, medication use, prior identification of vertebral fractures; and repeated reviews of chest radiographs by two radiologists who were blind to the diagnoses.

A review of 286 chest radiographs in the sample indicates that 73 subjects (25.5 percent) had at least one vertebral fracture. Only 13 of 73 vertebral fractures, or 17.8 percent, identified by the study radiologists were recorded in hospital charts.

Among subjects found by the study radiologists to have vertebral fractures, 7of18 (38.8 percent) had a diagnosis of osteoporosis in their medical records. Of the entire sample, 26 of 294 (8 percent) had a diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Overall, 6/31 (19 percent) patients with vertebral fractures were prescribed at least one osteoporosis medication. Eight of 86, or 9 percent, without vertebral fractures were prescribed at least one osteoporosis medication.

Overall, the results indicate that vertebral fractures and osteoporosis are underdiagnosed in COPD patients. This may account for the low proportion discharged on osteoporosis therapy, Dr. Papaioannou said.

Based on the findings, she recommended that COPD patients be considered for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis-related fractures.

The study was funded by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals.