Prognostic value of bone density characteristics in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Abstract

The frequency of osteoporosis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is 2-3 times that in persons of the same age without airway obstruction. Recently, the analysis of bone density under outpatient conditions the quantitative ultrasonometry technique (QUST) has been widely used. We analyzed results of the treatment of 36 patients (14 men and 22 women) aged with COPD 58-72±4,36 years. It was shown the T-criterion values obtained by QUST to characterize spinal pain in COPD patients are much more altered than in healthy subjects; direct correlation between them was documented. Moreover, they related to the duration of the disease and changes in the external respiration function. The possibility to reveal osteoporosis under outpatient conditions with the use of QUST was confirmed.