Korean J Oral Maxillofac Radiol.  2006 Jun;36(2):95-101.

Relationship of bony trabecular characteristics and age to bone mass

• Choi DH
• Song YH
• Yoon YN
• Lee W
• Lee BD

Abstract

PURPOSE: Bony strength is dependent on bone mass and bony structure. So this study was designed to investigate the relationship between the bone mass and bony trabecular characteristics.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
Study subjects were 51 females (average age 68.6 years) and 20 males (average age 66.4 years). Bone mineral density (BMD, grams/cm2) of proximal femur was measured by a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Regions of interest (ROIs) were selected from the digitized radiographs of proximal femur. A customized computer program processed morphologic operations (MO) of ROIs. 44 skeletal variables of MO were calculated from ROIs on the Ward's triangle and greater trochanter of femur. WHO BMD classes were predicted by MO variables of the same ROI. Classification and Regression Tree analysis was used for calculating weighted kappa values, sensitivity and specificity of MO.
RESULTS
The discriminating factors of morphologic operation were branch point, branch point [per cm sq]. Age also played important role in distinguishing osteoporotic classes. The sensitivity of MO at Ward's triangle and Greater Trochanter was 91.8%, 65.6%, respectively. The specificity of MO was 100% at Ward's triangle and Greater Trochanter.
CONCLUSION
Bony trabecular characteristics obtained using radiological bone morphometric analysis seem to be related to bone mass.

Keyword

Bone; Femur; Osteoporosis

MeSH Terms

Absorptiometry, Photon
Bone Density
Classification
Female
Femur
Humans
Male
Osteoporosis
Sensitivity and Specificity