[Osteoporosis in unselected patients in an ambulatory clinic for pulmonary medicine. An inexpensive diagnostic possibility not requiring extra time].
Patients with pulmonary and allergy-related diseases often suffer from osteoporosis. Deformities of the thoracic spine in the lateral view of a routine chest X-ray were evaluated in 1558 patients admitted to a chest clinic in a prospective, blinded and non-selected manner with various cardio-respiratory complaints. Signs of osteoporosis were found in 108 of 811 males and in 79 of 747 females. In 187 patients with thoracic spine compression a total of 106 had received corticosteroid medication. Only one received oestrogen and no one took calcium or D-vitamin supplementation. Conclusively we found that more attention should be paid to osteoporosis in patients with pulmonary disorders. An easy and cheap way is to look for fractures on a simple chest X-ray in a population of patients with cardiorespiratory complaints. We found a very high prevalence of thoracic spine deformities, especially in men.