title: Underdiagnosis of osteoporotic vertebral fractures in patients with fragility fractures: retrospective analysis of over 300 patients.
abstract: Osteoporosis (OP) is a silent disease unless a fracture occurs; it is a major health problem, mainly due to fragility fractures, that occur at vertebral and peripheral sites. Vertebral fractures (VF) are probably the most common fragility fractures, but they go often unrecognized. The main clinical symptoms of VF are acute and chronic back pain, spinal deformity, reduced mobility and impaired quality of life. They are frequently associated with other fragility fractures. We examined 478 patients at our outpatient clinic, who were referred for fragility fracture occurrence. The most common fragility fractures was hip fractures. However, after execution of spine X-rays in patients who had sustained hip fracture, we found that a large proportion of them had VF, which had not been reported in their medical history.
authors.affiliation: Second Orthopedic and Traumatologic Clinic, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Vanna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bottai
authors.affiliation: Second Orthopedic and Traumatologic Clinic, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giannotti
authors.affiliation: Second Orthopedic and Traumatologic Clinic, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Raffaetà
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Clinic, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazzantini
authors.affiliation: Second Orthopedic and Traumatologic Clinic, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casella
authors.affiliation: Second Orthopedic and Traumatologic Clinic, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Gaia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Paola
authors.affiliation: Second Orthopedic and Traumatologic Clinic, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Agnese
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Menconi
authors.affiliation: Second Orthopedic and Traumatologic Clinic, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Falossi
authors.affiliation: Second Orthopedic and Traumatologic Clinic, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guido
keywords: fragility fractures; osteoporosis; vertebral fractures