Comparing incomplete atypical femur fractures in patients with or without bisphosphonate treatment: radiography and bone morphology in a retrospective study of 19 cases.

Abstract

Background and purpose:  Atypical femur fractures (AFF) are associated with bisphosphonate (BP) treatment, although 10-50% of AFF patients have never used BPs. We aimed to compare the medical history, radiographs, and bone biopsies from the fracture site of patients with AFF with (BP group) and without BP exposure (non-BP group).

Methods: Between 2008 and 2021, we included 19 patients aged ≥ 50 years with incomplete AFF. During prophylactic nailing for thigh pain, a biopsy was taken that included the visible fracture line. Medical charts and radiographs were reviewed, and biopsies were analyzed histologically.

Results:  In the non-BP group (n = 9; mean age 70 years) patients had diseases affecting bone tissue properties (n = 3), pathological structural variations of the femur geometry or a fatigue-type mechanism (n = 3), or no identified causative patho-mechanism (n = 3). In the BP group (n = 10; mean age, 77 years) 2 patients had pathological variations of femur geometry and all used BPs. In the non-BP group, the fracture line was surrounded by bone resorption (n = 6) and cortical irregularities (n = 3), while the fracture line was restricted to a well-defined line in all patients in the BP group. The bone volume fraction (BV/TV) was on average 18% lower (95% confidence interval -35 to -1.2) in the non-BP group.

Conclusion:  AFF in the non-BP group are associated with bone metabolic diseases or deviations in whole-bone geometry and have a specific radiographic appearance at the fracture site whereas antiresorptive treatment appears to be the predominant etiological factor in the BP group.