The trabecular bone score is associated with bone mineral density, markers of bone turnover and prevalent fracture in patients with end stage kidney disease.

Fracture risk increases in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), but bone mineral density (BMD) measurement is less predictive of risk than in the general population. In this study of patients with ESKD, a lower trabecular bone score (TBS), indicative of microarchitectural deterioration, was associated with higher bone turnover markers and prevalent non-vertebral fracture.

INTRODUCTION: Declining renal function carries increased fracture risks, but BMD is less predictive of fracture for dialysis patients than the general population. The TBS, obtained from lumbar spine dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) images, provides information on microarchitectural integrity not captured by BMD. The aim of this study was to assess associations of the TBS to clinical, DXA, radiological, and laboratory measures in patients with ESKD undergoing kidney and simultaneous pancreas kidney (SPK) transplantation.

METHODS: A total of 147 patients with ESKD underwent pre-transplant laboratory testing, DXA, lateral spine X-ray, and structured history within 4 weeks of transplantation. Associations of the TBS to demographic data, prevalent fracture, BMD, and laboratory variables were assessed.

RESULTS: Of 147 patients (60% male, mean age 48 ± 13 years), 36% had diabetes mellitus (DM) and 54 patients had fractures: 21 prevalent vertebral fractures only, 22 non-vertebral fractures only, and 11 had both. The mean TBS (1.345 ± 0.125) was lower in patients undergoing SPK than kidney-only transplants (1.292 vs. 1.364, p = 0.001). The TBS correlated to spine and total hip BMD, body mass index and inversely to parathyroid hormone, alkaline phosphatase and procollagen 1 N-propeptide. By multivariable logistic regression, lower TBS was significantly associated to prior non-vertebral fracture (p = 0.026).

CONCLUSIONS: A lower TBS, suggestive of increased microarchitectural damage, was associated with type 1 DM, markers of higher bone turnover, and prevalent fracture. These data support the need for prospective studies to evaluate whether TBS inclusion improves fracture prediction in patients with ESKD.