title: Bone and soft tissue changes in paraplegic patients.
abstract: The loss of bone mineral in 66 paraplegic patients has been measured in the lower femoral shaft by scanning the leg with a beam of mono-energetic radiation from 241Am. The profile of the transmitted radiation was used to determine a parameter which was related to bone mass. The bone mass of paraplegic patients was significantly lower than normal. Persistent paralysis does not lead to a continued fall in bone mass, but once it has fallen, bone mass remains constant. Soft tissues also showed a muscle/fat ratio was lower than normal.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000576:Americium; D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010015:Osteolysis, Essential / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011868:Radioisotopes; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes; D000576:Americium