Evaluation of bone mineral density in women with chronic liver diseases during perimenopausal period

UNLABELLED: Osteoporosis is the most frequently occurring metabolic diseases of bones, observed especially in women after menopause. The goal of the paper was a comparison of bone mineral density (BMD) of health women with that in perimenopausal patients with chronic liver diseases. The study was performed in 47 patients with chronic liver diseases, aged: 37-56 years. Qualification criteria included chronic type B hepatitis, chronic type C hepatitis and cirrhosis of viral aetiology. The control group consisted of 15 healthy, age-matched women. All the women had been examined in order to identify other risk factors of osteoporosis development. RESULTS: The incidence of decreased BMD was statistically higher in the group of patients with chronic hepatic diseases, compared to the group of healthy subjects. No bone fracture was found in any of the examined patients. CONCLUSIONS: Routine densitometric examinations should be performed in all women in perimenopausal age with chronic liver diseases. Results of our studies indicate that in patients with liver diseases, the lowest BMD values are found in the group of patients with cirrhosis or chronic type C hepatitis. These women constitute a large risk group for secondary osteoporosis development.