Table 3.

Advantages and disadvantages of DXA imaging in children. The main advantages and disadvantages of DXA use in assessing bone in childhood CKD

Advantages	Disadvantages
Low radiation dose (4–27 μSv)	Two-dimensional image—cannot distinguish between cortical and trabecular bone
Evaluation of body composition is possible	Assesses areal BMD in g/cm2, not density in g/cm3
Operator independent—serial follow-up and standardisation across sites possible	Underestimates BMD in children with poor growth
Widely available	Does not evaluate the microarchitecture of bone
Reference data standardised for age, sex, race and height adjusted standard deviation scores (SDS) available