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Development of new criteria for cortical bone histomorphometry in femoral neck: intra- and inter-observer reproducibility

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Abstract

Histomorphometry is commonly applied to study bone remodeling. Histological definitions of cortical bone boundaries have not been consistent. In this study, new criteria for specific definition of the transitional zone between the cortical and cancellous bone in the femoral neck were developed. The intra- and inter-observer reproducibility of this method was determined by quantitative histomorphometry and areal overlapping analysis. The undecalcified histological sections of femoral neck specimens (n = 6; from men aged 17–59 years) were processed and scanned to acquire histological images of complete bone sections. Specific criteria were applied to define histological boundaries. “Absolute cortex area” consisted of pure cortical bone tissue only, and was defined mainly based on the size of composite canals and their distance to an additional “guide” boundary (so-called “preliminary cortex boundary,” the clear demarcation line of density between compact cortex and sparse trabeculae). Endocortical bone area was defined by recognizing characteristic endocortical structures adjacent to the preliminary cortical boundary. The present results suggested moderate to high reproducibility for low-magnification parameters (e.g., cortical bone area). The coefficient of variation (CV %) ranged from 0.02 to 5.61 in the intra-observer study and from 0.09 to 16.41 in the inter-observer study. However, the intra-observer reproducibility of some high-magnification parameters (e.g., osteoid perimeter/endocortical perimeter) was lower (CV %, 0.33–87.9). The overlapping of three histological areas in repeated analyses revealed highest intra- and inter-observer reproducibility for the absolute cortex area. This study provides specific criteria for the definition of histological boundaries for femoral neck bone specimens, which may aid more precise cortical bone histomorphometry.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Ms. Ritva Sormunen and Mr. Arto Koistinen for their assistance in sample preparation. We also acknowledge the financial support from the China Scholarship Council (CSC), Sigrid Juselius Foundation, and the Strategic Funding of the University of Eastern Finland.

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bone and Cartilage Research Unit (BCRU), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, POB 1627, 70211, Kuopio, Finland

    Xiao-Yu Tong, Inari S. Tamminen & Heikki Kröger

  2. Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, POB 1627, 70211, Kuopio, Finland

    Xiao-Yu Tong, Markus Malo, Inari S. Tamminen, Hanna Isaksson & Jukka S. Jurvelin

  3. Department of Orthopaedics, Traumatology, and Hand Surgery, Kuopio University Hospital, POB 100, 70029, KYS, Kuopio, Finland

    Heikki Kröger

  4. Division of Solid Mechanics, Department of Orthopaedics, Lund University, POB 118, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Hanna Isaksson

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  1. Xiao-Yu Tong
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Correspondence to Xiao-Yu Tong.

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Tong, XY., Malo, M., Tamminen, I.S. et al. Development of new criteria for cortical bone histomorphometry in femoral neck: intra- and inter-observer reproducibility. J Bone Miner Metab 33, 109–118 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-014-0562-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-014-0562-1

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