title: High prevalence of vertebral deformity in premenopausal systemic lupus erythematosus patients.
abstract: In this paper we searched for vertebral deformities in a group of 70 premenopausal systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients (31.8 +/- 8.1 years old) and compared them to a matched control group of 22 healthy women (32.0 +/- 8.9 years old). Patients and controls performed spine X-ray (XR) morphometry and lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD). Clinical data was obtained by a questionnaire and charts review. Thoracic or lumbar spine fracture was observed in 15 (21.4%) SLE patients, while no deformities were found in the control group (P = 0.018). BMD was not different amongst SLE patients and controls and between SLE patients with or without deformities. Although BMD could not predict what patient have deformity, seven patients (46.6%) with deformity had a lumbar spine or femoral neck Z-score less than - 1 SD [median = -0.59 (-3.72 to +0.88) and -0.20 (-4.05 to + 1.87)] respectively. In addition, we found a negative correlation between number of fracture per patient and lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD (R = 0.58, P = 0.04 and R = 0.84, P = <0.0001 respectively). No significant correlation was found between number of deformities and clinical data. This is the first study to search for vertebral deformities in SLE patients and to demonstrate a high prevalence of deformities in a relative young SLE population. These findings bring up the necessity to look for spine deformities in this group of women regardless the BMD.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. familiabborba@aol.com
authors.forename: V Z C
authors.initials: VZ
authors.lastname: Borba
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Matos
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: da Silva Viana
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lazaretti-Castro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015519:Bone Density; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005272:Femur Neck; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017697:Premenopause; D015995:Prevalence; D011859:Radiography; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*