Bone changes in alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver: A Histomorphometric Study

Summary The effects of alcoholic liver cirrhosis on the calcium, calciotropic hormones (parathyroid hormone and 25 hydroxy vitamin D) and testosterone were examined in twenty men. A transiliac bone biopsy was performed in each patient. A double tetracycline labeling was done in 17 patients. Radiological signs of osteoporosis (crushed vertebrae and rib fractures) were rarely observed but a low trabecular bone volume (BV/TV) was consistently encountered (BV/TV = 14.2 ± 4.6; normal 18.8 ± 4.8; P