A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Bone Densitometry in Patients Starting

Renal bone disease is one of the most important and frequent long-term complications of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Bone biopsy is without any doubt the best method for diagnosis and follow-up of histological changes, but it is an invasive and painful tool. The techniques of single and dual photon absorptiometry have been used to assess the bone mineral loss in dialysis patients (1). Actually, dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is the technique that offers more advantages in image resolution, the greatest precision, less irradiation, and the best utilization of time (2). Several studies using different methods of measuring bone mineral density (BMD) in hemodialysis (HD) and CAPD patients have been published (1,3,4). It has been stated in some of these studies that bone densitometry is a useful method in the evaluation of some aspects of renal osteodystrophy. Few studies have followed up the changes in bone mass in CAPD patients from the onset of their dialysis treatment. In this paper we describe a prospective longitudinal study measuring BMD with DEXA technique in patients with ESRD starting CAPD and followed up for one year