Table 5.

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

Advantages	Disadvantages
Low radiation dose (< 1 μSV)	Operator dependent on placing reference line during scanning
Can distinguish between cortical and trabecular bone	Not widely available, as mainly used in research
Other measures acquired: cross-sectional bone area, cortical thickness	Reference data heterogeneous and not standardised
Volumetric density measured in g/cm3
Independent of patient size, so the height and weight of the patient do not skew results