Evaluation of bone mineral density measurement of lumbar vertebrae by volumetric quantitative CT in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Objective To demonstrate the validity of volumetric QCT and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry( DXA )in bone mineral density (BMD) measurement and compare the difference in discriminating osteoporotic postmenopansal women with and without vertebral fracture. Methods One hundred and eighteen postmenopausal women [ mean age (62. 1 ± 7.0) years ] who received thoracolumbar radiographic examination were enrolled and divided into four groups (normal, osteopenia, osteoporotic and osteoporotic fractured group) also based on their BMD value of lumbar vertebra(AP-SPINE) measured by DXA: >x- 1s,x- 1s-x-2s, 0. 05 ]. In osteoporotic groups, AP-SPINE was not correlated significantly with other variables except 3D-CORT ( R2 = 0. 189, P < 0. 01 ) ; parameters of App60,80,100,120 BV/TV% were correlated significantly with 3 D-TRAB (R2 = 0. 955, 0. 951,0. 941,0. 912, P < 0. 01, respectively) and 2 D-TRAB(R2 = 0.912, 0.910, 0.878, 0.821, P < 0.01, respectively). The precision of 3D-BMD measurement was between 0. 70%--2. 25%. Conclusions Parameters derived from 3D-vQCT technique can discriminate osteoporotic postmenopausal women with fractured vertebrae from those without fractured vertebrae, and have better the capability than DXA. Among them, 3D-INTGL was the best parameter for diagnosing serious osteoporosis. App BV/TV% could be used to reflect the lost of trabecular bone precisely and to clinically predict fracture risk. Key words: Osteoporosis, Postmenopansal; Bone density; Tomography, X-ray computed; Lumbar vertebrae