Abstract
Reproducibility of estimates of cortical bone quantity in the appendicular skeleton by two methods was studied in healthy individuals and patients undergoing long-term hemodialysis. Repeated measurements of cortical thickness (CT) at the midpoint of the second metacarpal were taken from single radiographs of both hands by two independent observers. Repeated measurements by the same observer were more reproducible and the degree of reproducibility was far greater in healthy subjects than in dialysis patients. Repeated measurements were made of bone mineral content (BMC) and bone width (W) of the distal radius by photon absorptiometry. Repeated BMC/W determinations were highly reproducible in both healthy subjects and dialysis patients. High correlation was found between BMC and cross-sectional cortical area and between both simple cortical thickness and cortical area/width. Thus the photon absorptiometric technique is superior for the serial monitoring of bone quantity, particularly in patients with uremic osteodystrophy, but results obtained by the two methods in group studies should be comparable.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Adams P., Davies G. T., Sweetnam P. M. Observer error and measurements of the metacarpal. Br J Radiol. 1969 Mar;42(495):192–197. doi: 10.1259/0007-1285-42-495-192. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Boyd R. M., Cameron E. C., McIntosh H. W., Walker V. R. Measurement of bone mineral content in vivo using photon absorptiometry. Can Med Assoc J. 1974 Dec 7;111(11):1201–1205. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cameron J. R., Mazess R. B., Sorenson J. A. Precision and accuracy of bone mineral determination by direct photon absorptiometry. Invest Radiol. 1968 May-Jun;3(3):141–150. doi: 10.1097/00004424-196805000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Exton-Smith A. N., Millard P. H., Payne P. R., Wheeler E. F. Method for measuring quantity of bone. Lancet. 1969 Nov 29;2(7631):1153–1154. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(69)92482-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Garn S. M. The course of bone gain and the phases of bone loss. Orthop Clin North Am. 1972 Nov;3(3):503–520. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Naor E., Di Segni V., Robin G., Makin M., Menczel J. Intra-observer variability in the determination of the metacarpal cortical index. Br J Radiol. 1972 Mar;45(531):213–217. doi: 10.1259/0007-1285-45-531-213. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]