Abstract
The purpose of this study was to establish reference data, in relation to age and body height, for tibial trabecular and cortical volumetric bone mineral density, bone mineral content, and cross-sectional bone geometry in healthy children and adolescents using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). Over a 2-year period, 432 (207 male and 225 female) healthy children, with an age range of 5 to 19 years, from 6 different geographic areas in Belgium were recruited. Multislice pQCT scanning (XCT2000®, Stratec Medizintechnik, Pforzheim, Germany) was performed at the distal metaphysis (at the 4 % site) and the distal diaphysis (14 and 38 % sites) of the tibia of the dominant leg. Gender-specific centile curves in relation to age and body height were generated with the LMS method for total and trabecular volumetric bone mineral density (at 4 % site), bone mineral content, total bone cross-sectional area, periosteal circumference (all at 4, 14, and 38 % site), cortical volumetric bone mineral density, endosteal circumference, and cortical thickness (at the 14 and the 38 % site). These centile curves can be used for the interpretation of pQCT results at the 4, 14, and 38 % site of the tibia in European children and adolescents, at least when a similar methodology is used.
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Acknowledgments
Inge Roggen received a grant from the Belgian Study Group for Pediatric Endocrinology. Isabelle Sioen and Sara Vandewalle are financially supported by the Research Foundation—Flanders. The study part in Aalter was co-funded by the research council of Ghent University (Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds). The authors wish to thank the children, their parents, and the schools for their voluntary participation.
Conflict of interest
Inge Roggen, Mathieu Roelants, Isabelle Sioen, Sara Vandewalle, Stefaan De Henauw, Stefan Goemaere, Jean-Marc Kaufman, and Jean De Schepper declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
The study was conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki guidelines and was approved by the local ethical committee of the Ghent University Hospital, and written informed consent was obtained from all the participants and their parents.
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Reference ranges for bone parameters: Sex-specific reference ranges for bone cross-sectional area, periosteal circumference, endosteal circumference, cortical thickness, trabecular volumetric bone mineral density, and cortical volumetric bone mineral density, according to both age and height.
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Roggen, I., Roelants, M., Sioen, I. et al. Pediatric Reference Values for Tibial Trabecular Bone Mineral Density and Bone Geometry Parameters Using Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography. Calcif Tissue Int 96, 527–533 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-015-9988-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-015-9988-2