We have identified 35 women who have developed osteoporosis during or shortly after pregnancy and in only six of them could a recognized underlying cause be suggested. These findings would suggest that idiopathic osteoporosis associated with pregnancy may be more common than the current literature suggests. The higher prevalence of fractures in the mothers of our population compared to controls raises the question of a possible associated genetic factor in the aetiology of this condition.
A dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) machine was used to measure the bone mineral density (BMD) of both femora in 760 female volunteers. Each volunteer completed a questionnaire and exclusion criteria were applied such that only 480 of these were considered normal subjects. The remaining 280 women failed to comply with the criteria and were considered 'abnormal'; their BMD results were analysed separately. Two abnormal subgroups, one with previous long bone fractures and one with radiologically diagnosed osteopenia, were studied. BMD values for femoral neck, Ward's triangle and trochanter were compared between the two femora in all the above groups. No dominance relationship was found when comparing left to right femur, averaged over any population studied, but large differences were found between the femora in individual volunteers. There was a high correlation between BMD in opposing femora of 0.91, 0.91 and 0.84 for the femoral neck, Ward's triangle and trochanter respectively. However, in normal subjects the percentage variation in these regions ranged up to 34%, 64% and 80% respectively at the different femoral sites. In addition, the normal population was divided into two subgroups, one in which the density difference between the femora was large, and the other in which the difference was statistically insignificant. The analytical and anatomical variations between these two groups were investigated. Only part of the difference appeared to be due to analytical problems and it seems that there is a genuine difference in femoral density. Poor correlation for femoral neck percentage density difference was found with average BMD, age, height and weight in the normal population.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
An investigation was made into some of the major sources of error influencing the bone mineral density (BMD) measurements of the lumbar vertebrae, the femoral neck and the greater trochanter. The effect on accuracy and reproducibility of the following parameters was investigated: influence of patient positioning, patient size, scan speed, the technique of scan analysis and the temporal variation in instrument performance. The in vitro precision, both long-term and short-term, was assessed using aluminium phantoms supplied by the manufacturer. For the spine phantom, the precision expressed as a percentage coefficient of variation (%CV) was found to be 0.4% (10 scans) in the short term and 0.55% (15 scans) in the long term. Measured precision (short-term) for the three regions of the femur phantom analysed by the software was 1.3% for the neck of femur, 1.7% for Ward's triangle and 0.6% for the trochanter. Long-term precision was 1.0%, 1.9% and 1.1% respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between long- and short-term results. Short-term in vitro precision on a low density anthropological phantom was 4.1%, 4.2%, 2.4% and 0.61% for neck of femur, Ward's triangle, trochanter and spine respectively. In vivo short-term precision for the lumbar spine (L2-L4), measured by scanning four normal volunteers five times in one session, was found to be 0.8 +/- 0.25%. In vivo precision for the femur, measured on seven volunteers was 1.6 +/- 0.8% for the neck of femur, 3.2 +/- 1.7% for Ward's triangle and 2.2 +/- 1.1% for the trochanter.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.