Majority of Chronic pancreatitis patients have osteopathy, reveal Dexa scans

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) can lead to severe complications. Calcium stones and cysts may develop in the pancreas, however chronic pancreatitis is associated with osteopathy (osteoporosis or osteopenia).

A new study by Dr Phil A Hart MD and team reported that patients suffering with chronic pancreatitis were also diagnosed with osteopathy and recommended detailed study for a better management process. The study is in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology journal.

The objective of the study was to identify patient and disease-related associations with osteopathy in a prospective cohort study of CP.

The study included 282 subjects with definitive CP enrolled in the proceed study who had a baseline dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan. Osteopenia and osteoporosis were defined using the lowest T-scores. Clinical data were collected using standardized case report forms. Comparisons were performed with a multivariate logistic regression model with forward selection to identify risk factors for osteopathy.

The results of the study were found to be

• The majority of subjects had osteopathy on DXA scan (56.0%; 17.0% osteoporosis; 39.0% osteopenia). Subjects with osteopathy had a higher prevalence of traumatic (40.0% vs. 26.4%, p=0.02) and spontaneous fractures (3.9% vs. 0, p=0.04).

• On multivariate analysis, older age (OR 1.29 per 5 years, 95% CI 1.15-1.45), female sex (OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.75-5.43), white race (OR 2.68, 95% CI 1.20-6.01), and underweight BMI category (OR 7.40, 95% CI 1.56-34.99) were associated with higher probability of osteopathy.

• There were no significant associations between osteopathy and patient and disease related features of CP.

Dr Hart and team concluded that "In the largest study of CP patients who underwent DXA screening, the majority had osteopathy. There are overlapping risk factors with osteopathy in the general population, but the high prevalence in men and younger women supports the need for future investigations into the mechanisms of bone loss in CP."

For further information: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2021.09.026