[Secondary osteoporosis: pathogenesis, types, diagnostics and therapy]

Due to increasing knowledge on pathogenetic factors causing osteoporosis and increasingly more detailed investigations, the diagnosis of secondary osteoporosis is being made increasingly more often. A rational search for the underlying disease or the bone-damaging medication is indicated particularly in adolescents, premenopausal women, men and postmenopausal women with rapidly decreasing bone tissue. The early detection of the causative disease in the preclinical stage of osteoporosis and the current therapeutic options allow not only normalization of the bone structure and the risk of fracture but also targeted therapy of the cause of the osteoporosis. The focal point in the diagnostics of secondary osteoporosis is still dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurement together with the manifold imaging procedures in radiology and additional clinical, laboratory chemical and bioptic findings.