Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Mar 18, 2015; 6(2): 298-310
Published online Mar 18, 2015. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v6.i2.298
Bone mass in axial spondyloarthritis: A literature review
Erkan Kilic, Salih Ozgocmen
Erkan Kilic, Salih Ozgocmen, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Erciyes University, School of Medicine, Gevher Nesibe Hospital, 38039 Kayseri, Turkey
Author contributions: Kilic E and Ozgocmen S contributed to this paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Salih Ozgocmen, MD, Professor, Head, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Erciyes University, School of Medicine, Gevher Nesibe Hospital, Talas Yolu üzeri, 38039 Kayseri, Turkey. sozgocmen@hotmail.com
Telephone: +90-352-2076666-22278
Received: January 29, 2014
Peer-review started: February 8, 2014
First decision: April 4, 2014
Revised: August 15, 2014
Accepted: September 4, 2014
Article in press: September 10, 2014
Published online: March 18, 2015
Core Tip

Core tip: Osteoporosis is a well-known problem in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and other forms of spondyloarthritis. It may begin even in the early stages of the disease and inevitably causes vertebral fractures. Bone loss can be prevented with tumor necrosis factor blocking therapy by reducing inflammation at skeletal sites. Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the preferred method to assess bone mass in the early stages of the disease or in patients without aberrant ossification of the spine. In advanced cases DXA measurements with lateral spinal projections or quantitative computed tomography may be referred.