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Bone status assessed by quantitative ultrasound in children with inflammatory bowel disease: a comparison with DXA
Katarzyna Bąk-Drabik1, Piotr Adamczyk1, Agata Chobot2
1a Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine with the Division of Dentistry in Zabrze , Medical University of Silesia , Katowice , Poland.
Insights
Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) is not suitable for assessing bone status in children with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Nutritional status, not steroid therapy, significantly impacts bone health in pediatric IBD patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric endocrinology
- Gastroenterology
- Radiology
Background:
- Children with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) face complications like low bone mineral density.
- Accurate assessment of bone status is crucial for managing pediatric IBD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate bone status in children with IBD using quantitative ultrasound (QUS) of hand phalanges.
- To compare QUS findings with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in pediatric IBD patients.
Main Methods:
- Fifty-one children diagnosed with IBD underwent both DXA and QUS measurements.
- QUS data was compared against a control group of 460 healthy children.
- DXA reference data was sourced from the Hologic Explorer database.
Main Results:
- Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurements showed no significant differences between pediatric IBD patients and healthy controls.
- Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) revealed lower bone density in IBD patients compared to the general population.
- Nutritional status and Tanner stage correlated with bone status, while corticosteroid therapy did not.
Conclusions:
- Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) is not a reliable method for assessing bone mineral density in children with IBD.
- Nutritional status plays a more significant role in bone health for pediatric IBD patients than corticosteroid treatment.
- Low bone mineral density remains a significant concern in children with inflammatory bowel diseases.
Background:
To determine the bone status in children with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) using quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurement at hand phalanges and compare the obtained results with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
Methods:
Fifty-one children with IBD underwent DXA and QUS measurements at hand phalanges in the year 2013. The control group for the QUS consisted of 460 children. Reference data for DXA comes from Hologic Explorer.
Results:
QUS measurements did not differ significantly between IBD patients and healthy controls. There was no difference between UC and CD subjects. DXA measurements in patients with IBD were lower than in the healthy population. Tanner stage and nutritional status correlated with bone status contrary to steroids therapy.
Conclusion:
Low bone mineral density often complicates IBD in children. QUS is not an appropriate method for the assessment of bone status in children. Nutritional status seems to have a greater impact on bone status than corticosteroids therapy.
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