medwireNews: Study results suggest that bone mineral density (BMD) changes over time among patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and that the femoral neck may be the best site to measure bone loss.
In a longitudinal investigation of 168 Swedish AS patients, Anna Deminger (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) and colleagues found that BMD decreased significantly in the femoral neck and the total radius from baseline to the 5-year follow-up, by approximately 2.0% and 1.5%, respectively.
Conversely, BMD in the hip and spine increased over the study period, but the difference was only significant among men.
The team also observed that inflammation was associated with bone loss – with an increase in C-reactive protein predicting a decrease in femoral neck BMD – and the use of bisphosphonates was significantly associated with an increase in BMD at all sites measured except for the total radius.
Together, these findings “suggest that the femoral neck is the best site for assessing bone loss in AS patients,” conclude the study authors in Arthritis Research & Therapy.
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