Associations with subregional BMD-measurements in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have bone loss to various degrees at different skeletal sites. The subregional bone mineral density (BMD) of the hand and the correlation of BMD to other regional bone losses, parameters of inflammation or bone resorption was evaluated in 421 patients with RA and controls. RA patients had significantly (P < 0.01) lower BMD values in the carpus (0.405 ± 0.004 g/cm²), metacarpal joint II (0.318 ± 0.036 g/cm²) and metacarpal joint III (0.326 ± 0.022 g/cm²) compared to controls. There was no difference in bone density at the lumbar spine or hip. Significant (P < 0.001) correlations were found between BMD total of the hand, its subregions, the forearm and hip. Parameters of inflammation correlated significantly (P < 0.001) with pyridinolines (r = 0.378), desoxypyridinolines (r = 0.183), forearm (r = −10, P < 0.05), MCP II (r = −0.190, P < 0.001), MCP III (r = 0.204, P < 0.001) and carpus (r = 0.191, P < 0.001).