Hip structure analysis and femoral osteodensitometry in aged postmenopausal women with hip osteoarthritis and femoral neck fracture.

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA), osteoporosis, and bone fractures are frequent aging-related conditions. Regardless of the growing research interest in the effects of hip OA on femoral fracture risk, data about the region specificity of osteodensitometric and hip structure analysis (HSA) parameters of the proximal femora are lacking in aged postmenopausal women with hip OA compared to individuals with femoral neck fragility fracture. This study included 76 postmenopausal women admitted for total hip arthroplasty due to non-traumatic femoral neck fracture (FN_Fx group, n = 39) and hip osteoarthritis (OA group, n = 37). Osteodensitometric parameters differed significantly between the OA and FN_Fx groups, depicting lower bone mineral density in the FN_Fx group (p < 0.05). The most significant increase in these parameters was registered in the intertrochanteric region of the OA group. Moreover, the OA-induced changes in HSA-derived parameters displayed significant regional heterogeneity, with the intertrochanteric region showing the most notable difference between OA and FN_Fx group. Our data may indicate that OA displayed the most prominent positive effect on the intertrochanteric femoral region, revealing the regional heterogeneity in structural geometry and biomechanical indices of proximal femora in OA individuals. Since we did not observe significant differences in the femoral neck region, we may speculate that OA does not have a substantial protective effect on the femoral neck fracture risk in aged postmenopausal women.