Osteoporosis del varón: hallazgos clínicos y de la densitometría ósea en 70 casos / Frequency and causes of osteoporosis among males referred for bone densitometry

ABSTRACT

Background: Among males, osteoporosis is less common than in women, but can also be a health issue. Aim: To report the frequency and clinical manifestations of osteoporosis among males referred to perform a bone densitometry. Material and Methods: All densitometries performed during one year at a clinical institution were analyzed and those corresponding to males aged over 18 years were selected to review the clinical record of the patient. Osteoporosis was defined as a bone mineral density T score < -2.5 among males aged over 50 years or a Z score below -2.0 and a history of osteoporotic fracture among males aged less than 50 years. Results: Of 5792 densitometries performed, 439 (8 percent) corresponded to males aged more than 18 years. Among these 156 (82 percent aged more than 50 years) had an abnormal densitometry. Seventy patients had osteoporosis, (67 percent only by DXA) and the rest had an osteoporotic fracture. Mean age and body mass index of the latter was 62 +/- 15 years and 25.9+/- 3 kg/m2, respectively. Forty two percent had osteoporosis in the spine, 35 percent in the hip and 23 percent in both sites. Thirty six of the 70 patients with osteoporosis (51 percent) had a history of osteoporotic fracture in column, hip, wrist and other sites in 55, 11, 8 and 26 percent respectively. Seventy eight percent of these patients were aged more than 50 years. The most common causes of osteoporosis were idiopathic in21 percent, induced by glucocorticoids in 20 percent, associated with vitamin D deficiency in 16 percent and associated to chronic renal failure in 14 percent. Conclusions: One of six male referred for bone densitometry have osteoporosis, usually associated with other underlying diseases. In half of these patients, osteoporosisis severe.