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Summary. Osteopenia, sometimes with compression fractures of the spine, is a side‐effect of long‐term heparin treatment. The frequency is unknown. In this study, 70 women were given subcutaneous heparin as therapy for, or prophylaxis against, thromboembolism during pregnancy. All, except two, were examined by X‐ray of the spine and hip first week post partum. The duration of treatment and the dosage of heparin varied. There were 12 (17%) with obvious Osteopenia, including two women with multiple fractures of the spine (3%). Re‐examination 6–12 months post partum showed that the changes were reversible in most cases. Another 18 women were examined about three years after heparin treatment during pregnancy. No obvious osteopenia was found among them or in a control group of 30 women examined in the first week post partum. The degree of osteopenia was not correlated with either the heparin dose or the duration of treatment. Women treated with heparin in consecutive pregnancies do not seem to have an increased risk of osteopenia.

The radiological changes of renal papillary necrosis are independent of its etiology. If total papillary necrosis (TPN) or partial papillary necrosis (PPN) is present, radiological findings are diagnostic. Whereas, if the necrotic papillae remain in situ (NIS) none of the typical radiologic features of papillary necrosis are seen. Serial radiologic studies are useful in renal papillary necrosis. Extension of papillary or medullary cavities, shrinkage of the kidney, and calcification thereby may be noted. Radiologic changes involving the ureter and bladder are those of complications such as ureteritis or development of a transitional cell carcinoma. The latter most often appears in the renal pelvis.

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