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Osteoarthritis and osteoporosis do not generally coexist in patients. However, some have theorized that disc space narrowing leads to an increase in risk of vertebral fracture. Researchers in the rheumatology department of Cochin Hospital at Paris-Descartes University in France tested this hypothesis in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. The study analyzed the relationship between vertebral fractures and spine osteoarthritis in 410 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. The 6-month longitudinal observational study evaluated spine X-rays for vertebral fractures in the women. Osteoarthritis was evaluated by scoring osteophytes and disc space narrowing at all levels of the spine, and by an assessment of facet joint arthritis. Vertebral fractures were found in 52.4% of the women, and the presence of at least one osteophyte, one disc space narrowing, and one facet arthritis were detected in 90.2%, 64.6%, and 77.8% of the women, respectively. Overall, researchers deduced that disc space narrowing and osteophytes are associated with a decreased number of vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

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