The Effect of Bisphosphonates on Lumbar Vertebral Disc Height

Ayhan COMERT, Mustafa Nazım KARALEZLI, Umut CANBEK, Ulas AKGUN, Nevres Hurriyet AYDOGAN, Derya Burcu HAZER, Hans-Eric ROSBERG, Tugba Dubektas CANBEK

Abstract

Objective: Our purpose was to investigate the effect of bisphosphonates on the lumbar disc height, based on quantitative magnetic resonance imaging measurements in osteoporotic patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 74 patients with osteopenia or osteoporosis were retrospectively included in the study. Thirty-seven patients received bisphosphonate treatment and 37 did not receive any treatment. Age, body mass index scores, spine and hip T scores of the patients together with the median values of the disc heights in six lumbar intervertebral levels (T12–L1 to L5–S1) were analyzed. Results: The bisphosphonate treated group were significantly older compared to the untreated group. However, there was no statistically significant difference in BMI scores between the groups. The spine-T-scores were significantly lower in the bisphosphonate treated group compared to the untreated group, but the hip T scores were found to be similar. The correlation analysis in the untreated group revealed a very weak positive correlation between the disc heights and the spine T scores except for the discs between L4-5 and L3-4. Conclusion: We found that, bisphosphonate therapy might be associated with the preserving of the lumbar disc height despite of low bone mineral density levels.

Özet

Amaç: Amacımız, osteoporotik hastalarda kantitatif manyetik rezonans görüntüleme ölçümlerine dayanarak bifosfonatların lomber disk yüksekliği üzerindeki etkisini araştırmaktır. Gereç ve yöntem: Kliniğimizde Ocak 2017 - Ocak 2018 arasında muayene edilen osteopenik veya osteoporotik toplam 74 hasta çalışmaya alındı. Bu 74 hastanın 37 ‘si son dönemde bifosfasfanat kullanmışken, bunların 37'sinde bifosfanat kullanım öyküsü yoktu. Hastaların yaş, boy, kilo, vücut kitle indeksi (VKİ) skorları, omurga ve kalça T skorları ile birlikte altı lomber intervertebral seviyede (T12 – L1 - L5 – S1) disk yüksekliklerinin medyan değerleri incelendi. Bulgular: Bifosfonat ile tedavi edilen grup tedavi edilmeyen gruba göre daha yaşlı, daha kısa ve daha inceydi (Welch t-testi, p = 0,038, p