BONE DENSITOMETRY IN PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE-MYELOMA

PURPOSE, PATIENTS, AND METHODS: We performed dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in 10 selected patients with aggressive multiple myeloma in whom substantial tumor mass reduction was achieved after high-dose chemoradiotherapy followed by autologous blood stem cell transplantation. RESULTS: In most Cases, bone mineral density (BMD) of the spine was initially low (Mean Z score: -2.69, SEM 0.76) and dramatically increased after treatment (mean increase 16.4%; 7.7% with 95% confidence interval 2.2 to 12.2, excluding one patient whose spine BMD increased by 94.8%). In contrast, skeletal roentgen computed tomographic scans, and magnetic resonance imaging did not reveal any significant improvement of patients' bone lesions. CONCLUSIONS- In patients with multiple myeloma, bone densitometry could be a useful way to assess the efficacy of treatment on bone status.