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Sex-related variations in cortical and trabecular bone of the femoral neck in an elderly Chinese population

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Abstract

Summary

Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) was used to investigate sex-related variations in cortical and trabecular bone of the femoral neck. Cortical bone thickness of women in the superior quadrant was thinner than that of men, and the cortex in all four quadrants was negatively associated with age in women.

Introduction

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate sex-related similarities and differences in femoral neck structure in an elderly Chinese population by QCT bone investigational toolkit (BIT) analysis.

Methods

This study included 207 male (67.9 ± 7.7 years; range, 55–87 years) and 400 female subjects (68.0 ± 8.7 years; range, 55–96 years). BIT module was used to measure cortical and trabecular bone in anatomic quadrants of the femoral neck. Measurements of cortical thickness (Ct.Th), cortical vBMD (Ct.vBMD), trabecular vBMD (Tb.vBMD), and integral vBMD (It.vBMD) at the femoral neck were determined in four anatomical sectors.

Results

The greatest difference between sexes, after adjusting for age, height, and weight, was in Ct.Th of Quadrant Supero-anterior (SA), which was 27.4% lower in women (p<0.001). Ct.Th of Quadrant Supero-posterior (SP) was 15.1% lower in women (p = 0.027). Ct.Th and Tb.vBMD in all four quadrants appeared to be negatively associated with age in females, whereas no significant relationship was observed in males, except Ct.Th of Quadrant SP.

Conclusions

The superior femoral neck geometry between males and females was significantly different, even after adjustment for body size and age, and the sub-regional cortical and trabecular bone negatively age-related changes in women indicated that women apparently have a more vulnerable geometrical outcome with age for fractures than men.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Richard Prince, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the University of Western Australia, for his most helpful comments on drafts of this paper.

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science foundation of China (Grant no: 81071131), Beijing Bureau of Health 215 program (Grant no: 2013-3-033; 2009-2-03), and Capital Characteristic Clinic Project (Grant no: Z141107002514072).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Xicheng District, Beijing, China

    L. Wang, X. G. Cheng, Y. B. Su, L. Xu, K. Li, C. X. Zhang, Y. Zhang & Y. Y. Duanmu

  2. Mindways Software, Austin, TX, USA

    K. Brown

  3. Department of Traumatology and Orthopedic Surgery, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Xicheng District, Beijing, China

    X. B. Wu & M. Y. Wang

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  1. L. Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to X. G. Cheng.

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Conflicts of interest

Ling Wang, Xiaoguang Cheng, Yongbin Su, Li Xu, Kai Li, Chenxin Zhang, Yong Zhang, Yangyang Duanmu, Xinbao Wu, and Manyi Wang declare that they have no conflict of interest. Keenan Brown is a stockholder of Mindways Software Inc.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed that involved human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and are approved by the Institutional Review Board.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Wang, L., Cheng, X.G., Su, Y.B. et al. Sex-related variations in cortical and trabecular bone of the femoral neck in an elderly Chinese population. Osteoporos Int 28, 2391–2399 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-017-4043-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-017-4043-y

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