Graves’ disease and vertebral fracture: Possible pathogenic link in postmenopausal women

Background and Objective Thyrotoxicosis is associated with accelerated bone turnover and increases the risk of fractures and osteoporosis. Graves' disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. However, studies that examined risk factors associated with fragility fractures only in patients with Graves' disease are limited. Here, we investigated whether the risk of vertebral fracture (VF) of postmenopausal Graves' disease patients is high and tried to identify the risk factors for VF in that population. Design and Methods Forty‐three postmenopausal women with Graves' disease were enrolled. Physical and biochemical indices, thyroid indices and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured, and lateral X‐rays were obtained to evaluate VFs. Age‐ and sex‐matched healthy individuals were enrolled as the control group (n = 86). Results The prevalence of VFs (35% vs 17%, P