Postpartum Osteoporosis and Thoracic Vertebral Fracture in a Patient Treated with Heparin During Pregnancy

Postpartum osteoporosis (PPO) is a rare form of osteoporosis related to pregnancy. We report the case of a 35-year-old woman who consulted for severe low-back pain one week after her delivery. This woman had a personal history of protein C deficiency and was treated with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) 40 mg/day during her pregnancy. Her body mass index was 19.8 and she had only gained 8 kg during pregnancy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a fracture of thoracic 11. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) measured T score = - 4,9 and Z score = -4,8 in Lumbar 1-4 vertebrae. These findings suggest that PPO may be one of the causes of severe back pain in postpartum patients. We think that PPO risk is higher in those patients with low BMI who were treated with LMWH during pregnancy