Regional migratory osteoporosis

Abstract

SummaryThe case history of a patient with regional migratory osteoporosis and associated electromyographic abnormalities is reported.The changes seen in this patient suggest that radiculopathy secondary to traumatic ischaemia may be the pathogenic basis of this disorder.

Transient Osteoporosis of the Knee in Pregnancy

“…18 Similarly, compression of blood vessels proximal to the pelvic nerve roots may produce neuronal ischemia and subsequent bone demineralization. 15,16 Finally, a physiological increase in adrenal cortex activity during pregnancy produces increased bone reabsorption and may produce areas of demineralization.…”

Transient Osteoporosis

“…However, this could not be experimentally reproduced in dogs (11). Electromyographic (EMG) findings have been normal in TO cases (31), but EMG has documented denervation patterns coincident in location and time with RMO attacks (37,39).…”

Osteoporosis—a problem of bone formation?

“…Although the osteoblast responds to physical forces, and this response may lessen with age, the basic mechanisms are unknown. It is of interest to consider how far the forms of osteoporosis described in the current issue of the Postgraduate Medical Journal (Need, et al, 1984;Major, 1984;Griffiths and Liu, 1984); can be explained as a disturbance of bone formation.…”

“…When the symptoms around one joint improve, often after several months, only to appear in another, the term regional or transitory migratory osteoporosis is more appropriate (Major, 1984). Although the clinical features may be localized, the association with similar osteoporotic changes in the hips, sometimes in pregnancy and with compression fractures of the vertebrae (Sutton and Robert, 1983) suggests a more generalized disorder.…”