FLUORIDE AS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE HIGH-RATE OF OSTEOSCLEROSIS AMONG HEMODIALYSIS-PATIENTS IN SAUDI-ARABIA

Osteosclerosis is the commonest radiological finding among hemodialysi s patients in Saudi Arabia, and it is not clear why. High bone fluorid e content might be a contributing factor. To assess the role of fluori de in the pathogenesis of this observation we randomly selected 12 pat ients on hemodialysis. Seven had radiological evidence of generalized osteosclerosis (group 1) and five had no radiological evidence of oste osclerosis (group 2). Demographic, biochemical and hormonal data of th e two groups were determined. Bone biopsy after tetracycline labeling was done in all patients and bone fluoride content was measured. The p atients with osteosclerosis (group 1) had a significantly longer durat ion on hemodialysis (p < 0.05) and higher levels of serum fluoride (p < 0.01) than patients without osteosclerosis (group 2). The mean bone fluoride content as percent of bone ashes in group 1 was 0.35 + 0.12%, which was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than group 2 (0.24 + 0.07%) . Fluoride may therefore be a contributing factor to the high percenta ge of hemodialysis patients with osteosclerosis in Saudi Arabia.