Can antiosteoporotic therapy reduce mortality in MRI-proved acute osteoporotic vertebral fractures?

Patients with MRI-proved acute painful vertebral fractures in whom conservative pain management fails are frequently referred for vertebroplasty. This study investigated the effects of treating osteoporosis on the mortality rate of patients with MRI-proved acute osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures who had undergone vertebroplasty. We retrospectively reviewed the cases of osteoporosis patients with MRI-proved acute vertebral fractures who had been treated with vertebroplasty from January 2001 to December 2007. The long-term outcomes of the patients who received antiosteoporotic therapy were compared with those of patients who received no therapy. A total of 304 patients (247 female patients and 57 male patients; mean age, 74.1 ± 7.7 years) were enrolled in the study. The patients who received antiosteoporotic therapy had a significantly lower mortality rate than did patients who did not receive antiosteoporotic therapy (P = 0.001; hazard ratio, 0.396, 95 % confidence interval, 0.273–0.575). At the end of the study, 183 patients were alive, and 121 had died. Effective treatment for osteoporosis may improve survival in patients with osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures after vertebroplasty.