High prevalence of vertebral deformities in COPD patients: relation to disease severity

¹ Glittreklinikken, Norway
² Clinic of endocrinology, Aker University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway
³ Centre for Muscle and Bone Research, Department of Radiology, Charité – University Medicine Berlin, Germany
⁴ Research dept, Aker University Hospital, Norway

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: aina.kjensli{at}glittreklinikken.no.

	Abstract

Bone mineral density decreases with advancing COPD severity, but we do not know whether this is reflected in higher fracture rates. We wished to compare the prevalence of vertebral deformities in COPD patients with those in a population-based reference group, and to determine whether the number of deformities was related to the severity of COPD and how far use of oral corticosteroids (OCS) influenced the prevalence of deformities.

In this cross-sectional study of 465 COPD patients and 462 controls, vertebral deformities were found in 31% of the patients and 18% of the controls (p<0.0001). In subjects who had never or sporadically used OCS, deformities were found in 29% of the patients and 17% of the controls (p<0.0001). In women the average number of vertebral deformities was almost twofold when COPD severity increased from GOLD II to GOLD III. In men, use of OCS had a small but significant influence.

Prevalence of vertebral deformities was significantly higher in COPD patients than in the controls. In women the average number of deformities was related to COPD severity even after adjustment for other known risk factors. The difference between patients and controls remained significant even in those who never or sporadically used OCS.