Pregnancy-related osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures in two patients treated with low-molecular-weight heparin during pregnancy: case reports.

Pregnancy-related osteoporosis (PRO) is an uncommon metabolic bone disease that can result in vertebral fragility fractures. Here we report two cases of young women who had been previously treated with LMWH-enoxaparin and were diagnosed with PRO with vertebral fragility fractures after delivery. In first case report, a 33-year-old primigravid woman who was treated with 40 mg/day of enoxaparin for eight months to prevent venous thromboembolism was presented. After delivery, Dual energy X ray absorptiometry (DEXA) revealed osteoporosis in lumbar and femoral neck region. In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), T4-T7 thoracic vertebral height losses were detected. In second case report, a 28-year-old primigravid woman which was treated with 40 mg/day enoxparin from the second month to the birth was presented. Osteoporosis in lumbar region was detected by DEXA. MRI revealed T12-L1 and L5 vertebral height losses. In conclusion, PRO can cause severe low back pain and should be considered in differential diagnosis. A detailed medical history should be essential to detect relationship between LMWH and PRO.

Characteristics of the retina and choroid in fibromyalgia patients and their correlation with disease severity and quality of life.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate retinal and choroidal characteristics of fibromyalgia (FM) patients using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), to compare them with healthy controls, and to determine the correlation of these measurements with disease severity and quality of life. METHODS: Thirty-nine eyes of 39 patients with FM and 44 eyes of 44 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were enrolled. The retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), central macular thickness (CMT), and choroidal thickness (CT) measurements of the subjects were obtained using SD-OCT (Maestro, Topcon Co. Tokyo, Japan), choroidal vascular index (CVI) was calculated by using the binarization method and the results were compared. Disease duration (DD), widespread pain index (WPI), symptom severity scale (SSS), visual analog scale (VAS), ocular pain assessment survey (OPAS), FM impact questionnaire (FIQ), European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions-3 level (EQ-5D-3 L), European Quality VAS score (EQ-VAS) and use of pregabalin were recorded. Correlations between the SD-OCT results and the FM parameters were evaluated. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in terms of age and gender (p = 0.612, p = 0.244 respectively). Patients in the FM group had significantly thinner RNFL superior quadrant and CT (p = 0,009 and p < 0.001, respectively). CVI was significantly higher in the FM group (p < 0.001). There was an inverse correlation between OPAS and CT (r = -0.379, p = 0.027) and between VAS and CVI (r = -0.398, p = 0.020). The use of pregabalin had no effect on SD-OCT (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Patients with FM demonstrated reduced RNFL superior quadrant and CT and increased CVI. Ocular and general body pain in FM was found to be associated with SD-OCT.