A Case of Postpregnancy Spinal Osteoporosis / 대한내분비학회지

ABSTRACT

Osteoporosis is a common disease of the elderly and occurs especially in the postmenopausal women. Rarely, it occurs during a pregnancy or shortly thereafter and is accompanied by a substantial bone loss, resulting in fractures. The clinical significance of pregnancy-associated osteoporosis has been noted since the 1950s. Although its etiology is still unknown, it has recently been proposed that PTHrP may be an important causative factor in pregnancy-associated osteoporosis. There are three types of the pregnancy-associated osteoporosis, (1) a transient osteoporosis of the hip pregnancy, (2) a postpregnancy spinal osteoporosis and (3) a lactation-associated osteoporosis. Postpregnancy spinal osteoporosis typically occurs within three months after a first delivery and usually involving the axial skeleton accompanied by back pain, bone loss and a fracture. We present a case of postpregnancy spinal osteoporosis that developed three months after a first delivery. Our patient also showed multiple compression fractures in her lumbar spine and biochemical evidence of increased bone resorption.