Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA or DEXA) has been the standard method for measuring or monitoring bone mineral density for many years, used principally for the assessment of osteoporosis and hence the risk of bone fracture. It is also now increasingly being used for the assessment of body composition. The concept behind DXA is to make […]
Graham Hart
YourRPA
The possibility of poor bone health in children is becoming greater from poor nutrition, lack of exercise, hereditary factors or iatrogenic due to treatment of chronic conditions. Lumbar spine (LS) and total body less head (TBLH) are the preferred sites for measuring bone mineral content (BMC) in grammes or areal bone mineral density (BMD) in […]
Sue Barlow
Vertec Scientific
For many years there has been a dilemma around the importance of vertebral fractures in the treatment plan for osteoporosis, and the under-diagnosis of them in the imaging world from radiologists who perhaps do not see them as unusual in a certain cohort of patients and do not document their presence. The great majority of […]
Sue Barlow
Vertec Scientific
Precision in imaging, often referred to as reproducibility, describes the ability of a quantitative measurement technique to reproduce the same numerical result when repeatedly performed in an identical fashion. In DXA, precision is the ability of a DXA system to obtain consistent bone mineral density (BMD) values upon repeated measurements of the same patient over […]
Sue Barlow
Vertec Scientific
Osteoporosis affects 200 million women worldwide, approximately 10% aged 60 and 67% aged 90. Within the UK, 50% of women and 20% of men will suffer a fracture after the age of 50 and annual rates are increasing. After a hip fracture, a high proportion of patients are unable to live without support as they […]
Professor Keith Rogers, Professor Pavel Matousek
Cranfield Forensic Institute, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Low bone mass, manifested in the conditions of osteopenia and osteoporosis, is the primary cause of bone fragility, and reductions in bone mass are the inevitable corollary of ageing and menopause. Bone loss may also be caused or exacerbated by reduced mechanical loading on the skeleton such as through immobilisation following injury, giving rise to […]
Dr Susan J Hopkins, Dr Karen M Knapp
University of Exeter
Methods for quantitative assessment of the skeleton are relevant to the understanding of growth and development during normal childhood and studying the effect of disease and therapy in children with chronic diseases. Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is currently the most widely available and utilised technique in adults and children.
Professor Judith Adams
Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust and University of Manchester
The use of bisphosphonates in the treatment of osteoporosis and management of fractures due to low bone mineral density is well established in the world of bone densitometry. Recent studies by a task force on behalf of American Society of Bone Mineral Research (ASBMR) have linked long-term bisphosphonate therapy with an increased risk of atypical […]
Sue Barlow
Vertec Scientific