Osteoporosis as the first manifestation of minor beta-thalassemia
Gómez Rodríguez, N.; Sánchez Bursón, J.M.; Atanes Sandoval, A.; Graña Gil, J.; de Toro Santos, J.; Galdo Fernández, F.
Anales de Medicina Interna 9(6): 287-290
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0212-7199 PMID: 1623101 Document Number: 395310
We present the case of a 48-year-old premenopausal woman with right lumbosciatalgia secondary to osteoporosic vertebral collapses. Two of her three offsprings, a 31-year-old man and a 16-year-old woman, had chronic dorsolumbalgia, the study of which suggested the diagnosis of minor beta-thalassemia. As opposed to thalassemic osteoarthropathy, frequently observed in the forms of "major" and "minor" beta-thalassemia, rheumatic manifestations have almost never been described in the "minor" forms. We highlight the possibility of symptomatic osteoporosis as the first manifestation and we review the locomotive disorders associated to this hemoglobinopathy.