Avaliação da densidade mineral óssea em pacientes portadores de escoliose neuromuscular secundária a paralisia cerebral

Abstract

Objectiveto evaluate bone mineral density among patients with neuromuscular scoliosis secondary to quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Methodsthis was a descriptive prospective study in which both bone densitometric and anthropometric data were evaluated. The inclusion criteria used were that the patients should present quadriplegic cerebral palsy, be confined to a wheelchair, be between 10 and 20 years of age and present neuromuscular scoliosis. Resultswe evaluated 31 patients (20 females) with a mean age of 14.2 years. Their mean biceps circumference, calf circumference and body mass index were 19.4cm, 18.6cm and 16.9kg/m2, respectively. The mean standard deviation from bone densitometry was –3.2 (z‐score), which characterizes osteoporosis. Conclusionthere is high incidence of osteoporosis in patients with neuromuscular scoliosis secondary to quadriplegic cerebral palsy.