Prevalence of low Mineral Bone Density in Renal Transplant Recipients one Year or More after Transplantation

IntroductionReduction in mineral bone density is a common complication following kidney transplantation and its adverse outcome could be minimized with well recognition and treatment. In this study we evaluated the prevalence of mineral bone density decrease in kidney recipients at least one year after the transplantation.Materials and MethodsKidney recipients from whom transplant surgery at least a year had passed and had a good kidney function were selected. Mineral bone densitometry using X- ray energy absorptiometry was performed. The serum levels of Ca, P, Alkaline Phosphatase and Paratormone were measured and the collected data were statistically analyzed.ResultsOverall 182 patients were studied. The total rate of mineral bone density decrease was 87.4%. Osteopenia in the femoral bone was 73.6% and osteoporosis was 13.8%. In the lumbar vertebrae an osteopenia of 66.5% and an osteoporosis of 20.9% were noticed. Variance of analysis showed that there were no statistically significant differences between duration of dialysis before kidney transplantation (P=0.777, P=0.420), duration of kidney transplantation (P=0.927, P=0.271), the mean of serum PTH (P=0.908, P=0.146) and calcium (P=0.348, P=0.265) in respect to densitometry of femoral bone and lumbar vertebrae. ConclusionThe frequency of mineral bone density reduction one year after kidney transplant in patients with a good transplanted kidney function was high.