RADIOGRAPHIC MORPHOMETRY AND OSTEOPENIA IN SPINAL OSTEOPOROSIS

Abstract

Measurements of bone mineral content and total-body Ca, normalized and expressed as ratios, were compared with radiographic morphometry in 45 women who had spinal osteoporosis. The radiographic indices examined included the femoral score, the femoral trabecular pattern, the biconcavity and metacarpal indices, and the total peripheral score. Both ratios and all the radiographic indices except the femoral trabecular pattern were related to the number of dorsal spine fractures. The relationships observed support the following conclusions: the femoral score and the metacarpal index are related to the degree of osteopenia; the biconcavity index reflects the extraskeletal factors that are pathogenic in spinal osteoporosis; a reduced femoral trabecular pattern index is associated with spinal osteoporosis, although this measurement is not related to the degree of osteopenia; and it may be imprudent to diagnose osteoporosis from the presence of lumbar compression fractures.