Bone mass and vertebral fractures in South African children on prolonged oral glucocorticoids for chronic non-malignant illnesses.

Introduction: We hypothesized that the prevalence of vertebral fractures would be low and that bone mineral density (BMD) would be less severely affected in a black South African (SA) population treated with glucocorticoids (GCs) than that reported in mainly white populations.

Methods: All children aged 5-17.9 years with chronic non-malignant illnesses who were on GCs (intravenous or oral) for greater than 3 months duration were evaluated.