Quantitative ultrasound of the calcaneus: an in vivo comparison with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and magnetic resonance imaging.
The current study was performed in a clinical setting and aimed to evaluate the relationship between quantitative ultrasound (QUS) of the calcaneus with bone mineral density (BMD) assessed with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and with variables derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Thirty-two postmenopausal women (mean age 61 years) were studied at the level of the nondominant calcaneus. QUS was performed using a DTU-one device including parametric imaging and yielded speed of sound (SOS) and broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) data. DXA was performed at a matched region of interest (ROI) in the calcaneus, using a Hologic QDR 4500 device. MRI, also performed at a matched ROI, yielded, using a Siemens Magnetom Vision device, the inverse of the transverse relaxation time (1/T(2)(*)) and the phase standard deviation (PSD). The strongest relationship between QUS and the other variables involved BUA and BMD (r &equals: 0.677, p < 0.001); 1/T(2)(*) showed a trend to correlation with SOS (r = 0.359, p = 0. 044) and with BMD (r = 0.364, p = 0.040), while the relationship between 1/T(2)(*) and BUA, PSD and BUA, PSD and SOS, PSD and BMD remained far from significance. Regression analysis of QUS, DXA, and MRI variables against age showed a trend to significant decline only for 1/T(2)(*) (r = -0.409, p = 0.020). In conclusion, this study shows that BUA of the calcaneus has the best correlation with BMD, and that, at least in a clinical setting, the ability of QUS to give information about bone structure is limited.
Louis
O
O
Bone Densitometry Unit and Biomedical MR Unit, Radiology Department, Academisch Ziekenhuis, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
Allein
S
S
Luypaert
R
R
Osteaux
M
M
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015519:Bone Density; D002111:Calcaneus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D014463:Ultrasonography