Abstract
On standard lateral roentgenograms of the lumbar spine, a decrease in bone density is said to be detectable only after a bone loss of about 40%. To evaluate this view, we compared findings on plain films with bone mineral content of L1 determined by quantitative computed tomography in 80 healthy subjects with a mean age of 60 years. The highest correlations with bone mineral content were found for the criteria 'vertebral density versus soft tissue' (r = 0.5, p < 0.0001), the 'amount of trabeculations' (r = 0.49, p < 0.0001), and for the 'overall' estimate of osteopenia in the vertebra (r = 0.55, p < 0.0001). Surprisingly, these three radiographic criteria proved to be most helpful in subjects with bone mineral content above 110 mg/cm3 (nonosteoporotic range). We conclude that lateral radiographs of the lumbar spine can provide a rough estimate of bone density in nonosteoporotic subjects which may be helpful in determining when further analysis with more precise methods is appropriate.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 528-531 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Rheumatology |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 4 |
State | Published - 1990 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- bone density
- osteoporosis
- radiography
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology
- Rheumatology