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Bone mineral density in patients with Crohn's disease during long-term treatment with azathioprine
C H Florén1, B Ahrén, M Bengtsson
1Department of Internal Medicine, Malmö University Hospital, Lund University, Sweden.
Objectives:
To ascertain whether patients with Crohn's disease treated with azathioprine maintained bone mineral mass better than patients treated with steroids alone.
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
University Hospital of Malmö, Sweden.
Subjects:
A total of 59 patients with ileocolonic, ileocaecal or colonic Crohn's disease.
Methods:
Bone mass was assessed by dual photon X-ray absorptiometry at the level of L2-L4.
Results:
Patients treated with a high lifetime dose of steroids (> 5 g prednisolone) had significantly (P = 0.011) lower Z-score of L2-L4 (-0.87 +/- 1.11; 11 SD) than steroid-treated patients, who had received a low dose of prednisolone (< 5 g) (0.08 +/- 1.16 SD). Azathioprine did not negatively influence the steroid effect on bone mineral density.
Conclusions:
Azathioprine does not seem to affect bone mineral density by itself. However, by being steroid-saving, it seems to conserve bone mineral mass in patients with Crohn's disease.
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