Bone loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Both male and female patients with rheumatoid arthritis show a significant bone loss in the femur, compared with the loss of bone seen in normal subjects with increasing age. A very similar pattern is seen in corticosteroid treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis. There is no evidence to suggest that the corticosteroid therapy has caused a greater loss of bone from the femur than would have occurred as a result of the rheumatoid arthritis alone. There was a statistically significant relation between the duration of the rheumatoid arthritis and femoral bone lo-s in women over the age of 45 years, whether or not they had been given steroid therapy in both male and female patients over 45 years of age, but again it appears unlikely that corticosteroid therapy had contributed significantly to the femoral bone loss. The Metacarpal and Femoral Indices of the patients were significantly related in both male and female groups.