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. 1995 Sep;173(3 Pt 1):890-3.
doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(95)90361-5.

Ultrasonographic bone characteristics during normal pregnancy: longitudinal and cross-sectional evaluation

M Gambacciani  1 , A Spinetti, R Gallo, B Cappagli, G C Teti, V Facchini
Affiliations

Ultrasonographic bone characteristics during normal pregnancy: longitudinal and cross-sectional evaluation

M Gambacciani et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1995 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: We evaluated the pattern of bone density during pregnancy by radiation-free ultrasonographic densitometry.

Study design: In a longitudinal study we measured bone mineral density in a group of 10 normal primiparous women, from the fourteenth to the thirty-eighth weeks of pregnancy. In a cross-sectional study bone mineral density was determined in a group of 85 normal primiparous women, in different weeks of pregnancy.

Results: In the longitudinal study ultrasonographic bone density was stable in the first part of pregnancy, whereas a significant (p < 0.05) decrease was evidenced during the third trimester. A negative correlation between bone density and weeks of pregnancy (p < 0.0001) was evidenced in the cross-sectional study.

Conclusion: During physiologic pregnancy the calcium mobilization from the maternal bone stores to accomplish the fetal needs can cause a significant decrease in maternal bone density in the last trimester of gestation.

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