Abstract
Bone mineral density (BMD) is described as the bone mass in a bone mass unit and is found to be lesser than the normal value in patients who have osteoporosis and development of fracture risk. Although indications for measuring BMD have been increasing day by day, using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) method to determine the risk of fracture is still controversial, and there are different approaches in the guidelines prepared by national and international associations. Quantitative computed tomography, quantitative ultrasound, single-photon absorptiometry, dual-photon absorptiometry, and DXA are the most common methods used for measuring BMD. DXA is considered as the gold standard for BMD measurement with its high-resolution power as well as its high image quality and short acquisition time.
Lumbar spine and proximal femur BMD measurement is accepted as the standard examination protocol. While femoral neck and whole hip BMD measurement is performed for determination of fracture risk, whole hip BMD measurement is recommended for monitoring disease progression and response to therapy. On the other hand, forearm BMD measurement is recommended for patients who cannot have hip and/or spine BMD measurement and also for patients being investigated due to hyperparathyroidism-induced osteoporosis.
The World Health Organization Fracture Risk Assessment Working Group on the BMD criteria defined osteoporosis in young adults with a BMD T score below 2.5 standard deviation value. It is sufficient to perform DXA study once in every 1–2 years to monitor the response to treatment, and it is necessary to take into account at least 5 % of BMD change in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of treatment.
In this section, we will discuss these and other indications for the application of DXA with a brief section on the specifications of the used methods.
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Emer, M.Ö., İnce, S., Arslan, N. (2016). Bone Mineral Densitometry: Measurement and Evaluation Methods. In: Korkusuz, F. (eds) Musculoskeletal Research and Basic Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20777-3_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20777-3_12
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