Table 1.

Different imaging techniques, underlying lesion mechanisms and localization and CKD stage in which it is mostly used.

Type	Mechanism	Skeletal Site	Type of Bone Disease	CKD Stage
Plain Radiography	Bone resorption lesions Bone cysts Fractures	Sub-periosteal Subchondral Sub-tendinous Extra-skeletal calcifications All skeleton	Secondary Hyperparathyroidism Multiple Myeloma Amyloidosis Osteonecrosis Osteoporosis Calcific Uremic Arteriolopathy	All
DXA	Areal BMD measurements	Hip, distal radius, lumbar spine, whole body	Osteopenia Osteoporosis	All
Vertebral Assessment Fracture (VAF)	Vertebral deformities	Spine	Vertebral fractures	All
HR-pQCT	Trabecular architecture Volumetric BMD	Hip, distal radius, distal tibia	Secondary Hyperparathyroidism	All and research
Bone Scintigraphy	Tracer accumulation occurs in osteoblastic activity, and to a lesser extent, skeletal vascularity; Systemic amyloid burden;	Whole body	Osteoarthritis Metabolic Bone Disease: -Hyperparathyroidism and vitamin D deficiency -Osteomalacia; Fractures Enthesopathies Osteonecrosis Rare Osteoarticular Diseases: Sarcoidosis with bone involvement; Amyloidosis: 123I SAP scintigraphy if available—assess amyloid deposition in liver, spleen, kidneys, adrenals, localized soft tissue deposits and bones 131I-β2M amyloidosis	3–5
MRI	Cortical porosity Marrow fat content and composition Marrow perfusion, and molecular diffusion	Distal radius, distal tibia, calcaneus, hip, spine Whole skeleton	Secondary Hyperparathyroidism	Research
PET	Bone formation rate, osteoclast, osteoblast, erosion and mineralized surfaces	Lumbar region	Low or high bone turnover disease	All
US	Cortical deterioration	Tibia	Secondary Hyperparathyroidism	Research

DXA, Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry; BMD, Bone Mineral Density; HR-pQCT, High Resolution-peripheral Quantitative Computerized Tomography; MRI, Magnetic Resonance Image; PET, Positron Energy Tomography; US, Ultrasounds Velocity.