The adverse effects of chronic corticosteroid therapy on bone mineral density(BMD) have been reported in several studies. This study discusses the role ofdual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in the detection of decreased BMD indermatological patients treated with corticosteroids. BMD was measured for 55patients treated with daily oral corticosteroids and 45 patients treated with IVdexamethasone pulse therapy. Results show that significant reduction in BMDoccurs in both groups, however oral corticosteroids produces significantly morereduction in BMD at the lumbar spine. BMD was not found to be affected by thecumulative doses of corticosteroids (except at the left hip in patients on dailyoral corticosteroids). Similarly the duration of daily oral corticosteroid intake aswell as the number of IV dexamethasone pulses did not affect the BMD.