To explore the effects of rheumatic diseases and glucocorticoids on bone mass a group of patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, n=18) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA, n=22) were examined.
We examined 40 patients and 48 controls with quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
QUS (broadband ultrasound attenuation, BUA; speed of sound, SOS) values were found to be significantly lower in patients than in controls ( P<0.001). QUS measurements were moderately correlated with DXA measurements (kappa score ( kappa) 0.28 at the lumbar spine, and 0.46 at the femoral neck). There were no significant relations between the dosage of glucocorticoids and QUS parameters.
In patients suffering from inflammatory rheumatic diseases QUS values were significantly decreased. SOS but not BUA and DXA measurements reflected disease activity assessed by erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP). QUS reflects different aspects of bone status compared with DXA.