Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a risk factor for osteoporosis. Our objective is to determine if functional indices associated with emphysema on pulmonary function tests (DLCO-diffusion capacity of the lung for CO-; DLCO/AV-DLCO corrected for alveolar volume- and TLC-total lung capacity), considered alone or together, can identify COPD patients with osteoporosis.
Methods: 90 COPD patients underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and pulmonary function tests.
Results: 26% of the COPD patients were osteoporotic. In univariate analysis, each functional parameter associated with emphysema, analyzed separately, was not associated with osteoporosis. In contrast, patients with hyperinflation associated with impaired diffusion capacity and transfer coefficient, defined by the association of the three functional indices (DLCO < 70%, DLCO/AV < 80% and CPT > 115%), had significantly more osteoporosis at the total hip (OR: 5.9, CI: 1.5-23.8, p = 0.013). In multivariate analysis, this phenotype was confirmed as an independent factor associated with hip osteoporosis. In contrast, COPD airway obstruction severity, based on FEV1 (%), was not associated with osteoporosis. A lower BMI, female gender and age were also identified as osteoporosis risk factors.
Conclusions: COPD patients with hyperinflation associated with impaired diffusion capacity and transfer coefficient are at higher risk for osteoporosis. Pulmonary function tests associated with emphysema detection can help to identify COPD patients with osteoporosis, in addition to the classical risk factors.
Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; emphysema; osteoporosis; screening.