Generalised and localised bone loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoporosis was studied in 307 patients with "definite" or "classical" rheumatoid arthritis by measurement of the clavicular cortical thickness (C.C.T.). Bone loss, as measured by this index, fell with advancing age, and was significantly greater than in non-rheumatoid control subjects matched for age and sex. Bone loss from the clavicles was not greater in patients treated with corticosteroid drugs. Loss of bone from the clavicle correlated with osteoporosis in other parts of the skeleton, as determined by the femoral and metacarpal indices. This suggests that osteoporosis in rheumatoid arthritis is a generalised phenomenon rather than a localised process secondary to adjacent joint inflammation.