A team of doctors and researchers at the University of Alberta has discovered that vertebral fractures often go undiagnosed or unreported when elderly patients get chest x-rays to check for other health problems. The researchers hope the results of their study will lead physicians to check more carefully for osteoporosis related vertebral fractures in the future. The research results have been published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

"Osteoporosis is so much a part of aging that the signs of it, such as vertebral fractures, are often ignored, and this study proves that," said Dr. Sumit Majumdar, a professor of general internal medicine at the U of A and lead author of the study. "We want to educate patients and primary care physicians to be aware of this and work to improve the situation."

The study entailed doctors revisiting 100 random chest x-rays of patients 60 or older, who received the xrays for symptoms related to the chest and not for back pain. The doctors found that 22 of these patients had vertebral fractures, and that 10 of these 22 cases--45 per cent--were not mentioned in the official radiology reports.

Vertebral fractures are commonly asymptomatic; that is, a person who has such a fracture doesn't feel pain from it and doesn't realize they have a problem, said Dr. Nancy Kim, a radiology resident in the U of A Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging and another author of the study.

The study is significant, Kim added, because vertebral fractures are often indicators of osteoporosis, a common disease among the elderly that weakens bones but is easily treated with drugs.

"Elderly patients get chest x-rays for thousands of reasons, everything from pneumonia to any number of heart conditions," added Dr. Brian Rowe, a professor of emergency medicine and another author of the study. "If doctors could take a moment to also check these x-rays for vertebral fractures it might really help the patient d
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Contact: Ryan Smith
ryan.smith@ualberta.ca
780-492-0436
University of Alberta
8-Mar-2004

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