Parâmetros imaginológicos em pacientes com alteração de massa óssea

Abstract

Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are the most commonly used drugs to treat breast cancer patients. AIs work by inhibiting the aromatase enzyme, which is responsible for converting steroid hormones. Several studies show the importance of estrogen for bone formation. It is believed that estrogen deprivation can have a deleterious effect on bone, causing increased bone resorption, decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and thus an increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Osteoporosis is a multifactorial systemic disease characterized by reduced bone mass and structural disorganization of bone tissue. The diagnosis of osteoporosis is based on densitometric criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO) with reference to the Tscore classification, performed by the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) technique, whose value assesses the BMD. As it is a systemic disease, osteoporosis also affects the maxillary bones. Thus, the study aims to evaluate imaging parameters in female patients undergoing treatment with AIs and referred for investigation of bone mass loss in a reference hospital in the treatment of these patients. Forty women undergoing therapy with AIs were evaluated. Radiomorphometric indices (RI) of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and fractal dimension (FD) were evaluated for some regions of interest (ROI), mandibular cortical width (MCW) and mandibular cortical index (MCI) in digital panoramic radiographs (DPR). All patients underwent the DXA exam to assess the status of BMD and divided into groups: normal and low BMD. The AUC values for the DPR indices ranged from 52.6%-75.8%. The index with the highest AUC was the mandibular cortical width ([MCW]; sensitivity: 38.1%-100.0%; specificity: 36.8%-84.2%). For FD, the total trabecular index had the greatest sensitivity, while the index anterior to the mental foramen (MF) had the highest specificity. In CBCT analysis, the values of AUC ranged from 51.8%-62.0%. The indices with the highest AUC were the molar index (M, sensitivity: 18.1%-61.6% and specificity: 66.9%-98.7%) and anterior (A, sensitivity: 25.7%-70.2% and specificity 48.8%-90.9%). The symphysis (S) index had the highest sensitivity, and the posterior (P) index presented the highest specificity. Sensitivity and specificity reasonable were obtained to computed tomography index (Inferior) [CTI (I)]. The MCW, FD of ROI of the mandible angle and total mandibular in the DPR, as well as the CTI (I), M, P, and A indices in the CBCT are useful to identify postmenopausal women who were using AI with low BMD