title: Osteoporosis diagnostics in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic connective tissue disease. The development of comorbidities often occurs in the course of RA. One of them is osteoporosis, which has serious social and economic effects and may contribute to the increase in the degree of disability and premature death of the patient. Due to the young age in which RA disease occurs, densitometry (DXA) of the lumbar spine is the basic examination in osteoporosis diagnostics. In the course of RA, much more frequently than in healthy persons of the same age, osteoporotic fractures of vertebral bodies occur, which hinder a correct assessment in the DXA test. Rheumatoid arthritis patients often undergo computed tomography (CT) examination of the abdominal cavity for other medical indications than suspected spinal injury. Then, CT examination may also serve for the assessment of bone density, especially in patients with osteoporotic fractures.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Rheumatology and Systemic Connective Tissue Disorders, J. Biziel University Hospital No. 2, Bydgoszcz, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, UMK in Torun, Poland.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Węgierska
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, J. Biziel University Hospital No. 2, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dura
authors.affiliation: Jacobi Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Einat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blumfield
authors.affiliation: Independent Section of Scientific Research Coordination, J. Biziel University Hospital No. 2, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Żuchowski
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Trials, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Marzena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Waszczak
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Rheumatology and Systemic Connective Tissue Disorders, J. Biziel University Hospital No. 2, Bydgoszcz, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, UMK in Torun, Poland.
authors.forename: Sławomir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jeka
keywords: bone densitometry; osteoporosis; quantitative computed tomography; rheumatoid arthritis