Opportunistic measures of bone mineral density at multiple skeletal sites during whole-body CT in polytrauma patients
Authors' conclusion
BMD varies through skeleton, being the highest in the proximal axial skeleton. Age-related changes in BMD are significant and more pronounced than sex-related changes in almost all bones. Cranial bones do not follow the same pattern compared to other bones.
Study context
- Population
- Polytrauma patients undergoing whole-body CT over a 2-year period; median age 51 years
- Participants
- 296 patients
- Outcome
- BMD (CT Hounsfield units) at frontal and occipital bone, C4, Th7, L4, S2, iliac bone, proximal humerus and femur
Methodological detailsopportunistic bone mineral density (BMD) measurement on whole-body CT, age-, sex- and visceral fat volume adjusted
- Opportunistic BMD measurement on whole-body CT
- Age-, sex- and visceral fat volume adjusted
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
BMD across skeletal sites
- Highest BMD in cranial bones
- 629 Hounsfield units (HU)
- Lowest BMD in pelvic bones
- 114 HU
- Variation of BMD across sites
- P < 0.001
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
- Sex was an independent predictor of BMD in cranial bones and proximal humerus
- Age-related BMD decline significant in all other bones; association with age differed among sites
- Visceral fat correlated most strongly with lumbar spine and iliac wing but was not an independent predictor in multivariate analysis
Original publication
Opportunistic measures of bone mineral density at multiple skeletal sites during whole-body CT in polytrauma patients. Osteoporos Int. Published 17 February 2023. doi:10.
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