SYSTEMIC BONE CHANGES ACCOMPANYING EARLY RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS IN PATIENTS TREATED WITH NONSTEROIDAL ANTIINFLAMMATORY DRUGS ALONE

Seventeen patients suffering from early rheumatoid disease (mean durat ion, 3.5 years) and treated with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs a lone had evidence of systemic bone changes. Transiliac bone biopsies, compared with age and gender-matched controls, demonstrated reduced bo ne volume and increased eroded surface. In addition, the metacarpal in dices were reduced in the rheumatoid patients and correlated with the iliac crest bone volume. These changes, found distal from sites of syn ovitis, suggest that in this group of rheumatoid patients there were s ystemic changes of bone metabolism. No biochemical abnormalities of ca lcium homeostasis were found. Collectively, present observations may b e a reflection of the rheumatoid disease process itself.