Bone Health in Patients with Cushing's Syndrome

INTRODUCTION: Osteoporosis is a well-recognized complication of Cushing's syndrome (CS). Data on bone health in patients with CS from south Asian countries, which are vitamin D deficient, are scarce. AIMS: We assessed bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with CS in comparison to controls. We also looked into how BMD differs in different types of endogenous CS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-seven cases of CS and 48 matched controls were studied for clinical, biochemical, hormonal, and bone densitometry parameters. RESULTS: BMD (both total lumbar spine (LS) and hip) as well as Z scores were significantly lower in CS patients as compared to controls. Neither LS nor hip BMD was significantly different among different etiological groups of CS. The difference in BMD was also not significant between eumenorrhoeic and oligo-/amenorrhoeic patients with CS. CONCLUSION: Patients with CS are at increased risk of having fracture secondary to osteopenia and osteoporosis. There is no significant association of vitamin D and intact parathormone with low BMD in patients with CS.