Update on bone density measurements and their interpretation in children and adolescents
Abstract
Following the increased awareness about the central role of the pediatric age in building bone for life, clinicians face more than ever the necessity of assessing bone health in pediatric subjects at risk for early bone mass derangements or in healthy children, in order to optimize their bone mass accrual and prevent osteoporosis. Although the diagnosis of osteoporosis is not made solely upon bone mineral density measurements during growth, such determination can be very useful in the follow-up of pediatric patients with primary and secondary osteoporosis. The ideal instrument would give information on the mineral content and density of the bone, and on its architecture. It should be able to perform the measurements on the skeletal sites where fractures are more frequent, and it should be minimally invasive, accurate, precise and rapid. Unfortunately, none of the techniques currently utilized fulfills all requirements. In the present review, we focus on the pediatric use of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), quantitative computed tomography (QCT), peripheral QCT (pQCT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), highlighting advantages and limits for their use and providing indications for bone densitometry interpretation and of vertebral fractures diagnosis in pediatric subjects.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Development of a crushable foam model for human trabecular bone
- Data-driven motion compensation in HR-pQCT.
- Modeling of structure, quality, and function in the orthodontic patient
- Exploring the mechanism of Heidihuang Pill in the treatment of osteoporosis based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental validation
- Effect of fabric on the accuracy of computed tomography-based finite element analyses of the vertebra
- Use of interventions involving virtual reality tasks during the climacteric: a systematic review
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.