Aa. Kalla et al., CORTICOSTEROID-THERAPY AND BONE MASS - COMPARISON OF RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS AND SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS, South African medical journal, 84(7), 1994, pp. 404-409
This study was designed to evaluate the effects of low-dose corticoste
roid (CS) therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and of high-dose CS th
erapy for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) on metacarpal bone mass i
n young (premenopausal) subjects. Ninety-eight patients with RA, 63 pa
tients with SLE and 85 healthy controls of comparable age, race, sex a
nd nutritional status were studied. Metacarpal bone mass was measured
by radiogrammetry using a digitiser. In the RA patients, mean bone mas
s of CS-treated subjects (27%) was 52,31 g/cm(2), while that of untrea
ted subjects was 56,69 g/cm(2) (P < 0,02). In the SLE group, mean bone
mass of CS-treated subjects (76%) was 61,47 g/cm(2) and that of untre
ated subjects 62,36 g/cm(2) (P > 0,1). Although patients with SLE requ
ired larger cumulative doses bf CS for longer periods, their bone mass
was higher than that of the RA subjects (P < 0,01). None of the patie
nts had femoral neck or vertebral crush fractures. In RA, bone loss wa
s probably a feature of severe disease rather than of CS therapy.