Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Borderline Osteopenia

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Borderline Osteopenia

    I just received my bone density test results and I am borderline osteopenic in lumbar and have osteopenia in left and right hip. I am 61. Are the surgeons out there hesitant to do a fusion when osteopenia is involved? I am especially interested in going to Dr. Lenke for a consult.
    1963 Fusion T4-L2 for congenital scoliosis. It was a bone graft and not instrumentation
    1989 to Present....Have had chronic pain. MRI's show severe neural foraminal stenosis L2-S1, rotational scoliosis lumbar spine over 40 degrees, compression of nerve roots L5-S1, Broad Based Herniations L4-L5, L5-S
    Surgery scheduled with Dr. Bridwell on December 11, 2012
    December 11, 2012 Had surgery with Dr. Bridwell. He fused L4-L5 with rods and screws.

  • #2
    I doubt that a small amount of osteopenia would scare any good specialist away from you. I was able to totally reverse my osteopenia by taking calcium supplements regularly.

    --Linda
    Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
    Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

    Comment


    • #3
      osteopenia

      Hi!
      I am osteopenic and one doc was hesitant to do surgery on me because of that. I met with Dr Bridwell for a second opinion and he referred me to a bone specialist and she put me on Forteo a few months prior to my surgery, which was 3/27. The idea was initially that I was to be on the Forteo for six months after surgery, but it may be longer depending on how solid things look in there....My spine and wrist T scores were just inside the osteopenic range but my hip score was definitely in there and getting worse. I am fused T3 to sacrum with pelvic fixation, hence the concern. I know that if you become osteoporotic there will definitely be fewer options for you. An interesting thing I found out about osteopenia/osteoporosis and scoliosis is that the readings (T scores) of your spine are not always very accurate because of the shape of the bone in there - sometimes the readings will be high and sometimes low, so it is hard to say where on the scale (DEXA scan) a scoliotic spine really lies. Good luck with your decision!

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by yacpatty View Post
        I just received my bone density test results and I am borderline osteopenic in lumbar and have osteopenia in left and right hip. I am 61. Are the surgeons out there hesitant to do a fusion when osteopenia is involved? I am especially interested in going to Dr. Lenke for a consult.
        I was osteopenia in my lumbar and if you looked at my individual lumbar disk density, some were osteoporosis. Lenke's office confirmed that severe scoliosis curves tend to result in skewed density results reading more severe than they really are. Dr. Lenke always uses BMP which helps his patient with stronger/faster fusions. Don't let osteopenia scare you, surgery can still be done unless there are some extreme circumstances.

        Warmly,
        Doreen
        44 years old at time of surgery, Atlanta GA

        Pre-Surgery Thorasic: 70 degrees, Pre-Surgery Lumbar: 68 degrees, lost 4 inches of height in 2011
        Post-Surgery curves ~10 degrees, regained 4 inches of height

        Posterior T3-sacrum & TLIF surgeries on Nov 28, 2011 with Dr. Lenke, St. Louis
        2 rods, 33 screws, 2 cages, 2 connectors, living a new life I never dreamed of!

        http://thebionicachronicles.blogspot.com/

        Comment

        Working...
        X