DETERMINATION OF BONE MINERAL DENSITY IN SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS PATIENTS REFERRED TO RHEUMATOLOGY CLINIC OF AHWAZ UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

Osteoporosis is one of the important complications of systemic lupus erythematosus and secondary fractures, which often makes it problem for the patients. The aim of this study was to determine the amount of bone density among the SLE patients referred to Rheumatology clinic of Ahwaz city. 101 lupus patients with mean age of 30.7 years and 106 healthy individuals with mean age of 36.8 years were selected as the control group.The BMD was measured for lumbar spines (L2-L4) and femoral neck by DEXA.The results of this study showed that the amount of BMD in femoral neck of SLE patients were decreased compared to control group (P< 0.001), while the amount of BMD in lumbar spines of SLE patients were increased compared to control group (P< 0.001)