title: The effect of alendronate treatment on cortical thickness of the proximal femur in postmenopausal women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bisphosphonates (BPs) are used extensively for managing the osteoporosis. There are some controversies on atypical fractures of femur that associated with increase in cortical thickness (CT) and BPs' use. In this study, the effects of alendronate consumption were studied on femoral CT as a predictor for atypical fracture.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty nine post-menopausal women aged 50-70 years with osteopenia-osteoporosis who were treated with alendronate 70 mg/week for at least one year were compared to 49 controls for CT in subtrochanteric region of femur by hip dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans and hip Xray. CT and its ratio were measured at 3.5 and 4.0 cm below the tip of the greater trochanter (GT) and 0.5 cm below lesser trochanter (LT) in DXA and at 9.5 and 10.5 cm of GT and 1 cm of LT in Xray.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, 98 women participated whose mean age and age at menopause were 60 (17±5.6) and 49 (40±2.7) years, respectively. Duration of BP consumption in alendronate group was 1.76±1.38 (1-10) years. No difference was seen in the mean of CT and its ratio between the alendronate and control groups in BMD scan or X-ray. The best correlation between two imaging modalities was in cortical ratio in 3.5 cm of GT in BMD scan and 9.5 cm of GT in X-ray.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alendronate treatment did not appear to increase femoral CT throughout the detection limits of BMD scan or X-ray.
authors.affiliation: Rheumatologist, Associate Professor, Diabetes Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. mmobini50@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mobini
authors.affiliation: Internist, Division of Internal Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. ali3abbaspor1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Leyla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dehghan
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Medicine Specialist, Valiasr Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Ghaemshahr, Iran. usefi547@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gholamali
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yosefi
authors.affiliation: Biostatistician, Associate Professor, Diabetes Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. mohammadpour2002@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammadpour
authors.affiliation: Radiologist, Associate Professor, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. sian_abdi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Rohollah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abdi
keywords: Alendronate; Atypical fracture; Femoral cortical thickness; Osteoporosis