Bone mass reductions in patients with chronic liver disease: The significance of bone mineral density measurements of vertebral bones using abdominal computed tomography

Abstract

Bone lesions greatly affect the quality of life of patients with chronic liver disease. We investigated bone mineral density (BMD) in 613 patients with chronic liver disease using computed tomography (CT) images to examine the relationship between the pathologic condition of the liver and BMD. We further evaluated the association between changes in BMD and sarcopenia, a disease characterized by loss of muscle mass. Based on CT, the rate of complications associated with osteoporosis was found to be 30%. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, cirrhosis, alanine transaminase level, and muscle mass were the contributing factors for decreased BMD. Bone mass is a notably important parameter to monitor in aging patients with liver disease in Japan. Thus, the measurement of BMD using CT images may be useful for screening for bone lesions.