Researchers recently found that a particular form of spinal fracture may be able to help clinicians differentiate between patients likely to have indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM) and those likely to have primary osteoporosis (osteoporosis not caused by another medical condition). These findings were recently published in Osteoporosis International.
Biconcave vertebral fractures, a form of spinal fracture where the middle part of the vertebra collapses inward, were found to be more common in patients with ISM than in those without the condition.
Studies suggest that a relationship exists between skeletal fragility and ISM, and studies have anecdotally reported the occurrence of vertebral fractures among patients with ISM. The researchers hence sought to look into different morphologies of vertebral fractures in patients with a ISM in a bid to investigate if this can be used to better differentiate between ISM and primary osteoporosis.
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Researchers enrolled patients with vertebral fractures who were seen at medical centers in Italy. The study included 22 patients with ISM; the control group, meanwhile, consisted of 44 patients with primary osteoporosis or primary osteopenia (reduced bone mass less severe than osteoporosis).
When compared with individuals with primary osteoporosis, the cohort with ISM had a slightly raised number of vertebral fractures; this was particularly true for biconcave vertebral fractures, both as percentage of the total and in absolute numbers.
Statistical studies showed that the number and proportion of biconcave vertebral fractures had high discriminatory power in distinguishing ISM from primary osteoporosis. Notably, these findings held true even after adjusting for age and sex.
“Incorporating this parameter into existing diagnostic pathways may help reduce diagnostic delays, prevent misclassification as primary osteoporosis, and guide more appropriate therapeutic decision-making in this high-risk population,” the study’s authors wrote.
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