Comparison of phalangeal ultrasound and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in healthy male and female adolescents

Abstract

The aims of this study were to determine if there is a correlation between dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and phalangeal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) in identifying children and adolescents with low bone density, and to assess if body size influences the results of the two techniques to the same degree. Measurements were performed in 67 girls and 83 boys aged 14 to 19 y using DBM Sonic 1200 (IGEA, Carpi, Italy) and the DXA equipment (LUNAR Radiation Corp., Madison, WI, USA). Twelve adolescents (eight males and four females) reported a past history of nonosteoporotic fractures. Lumbar spine bone mineral density (LS BMD), total body bone mineral density (TB BMD) and total body bone mineral content (TB BMC) correlated positively with age, height, BMI and weight, in both genders. Amplitude-dependent speed of sound (Ad-SOS) was positively correlated with age, height and Tanner stages in both genders and negatively correlated with BMI in females. TB BMD, TB BMC and LS BMD positively correlated with Ad-SOS only in males. In females, there were no significant correlations between Ad-SOS, TB BMD, TB BMC and LS BMD measurements. Twelve teenagers with previous fractures (high impact fractures) were found to have lower DXA and QUS values than age-matched teenagers without fractures but the statistical significance was found only in relation to TB BMD values (p = 0.02). In conclusion, we obtained results similar to those that have been reported by other authors using different QUS techniques. Furthermore, the Ad-SOS measurements taken at the distal metaphysis of the proximal phalanges correlate poorly with LS BMD and TB BMD measured by DXA in growing subjects.