title: Validation of dental panoramic radiography measures for identifying postmenopausal women with spinal osteoporosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Measurements of mandibular inferior cortical shape and width detected on dental panoramic radiographs may be a useful screening tool for spinal osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. The purposes of this study were to clarify whether these measures are validated compared with simple screening tools based on questionnaires, such as the osteoporosis self-assessment tool (OST) and whether these measures can be used in postmenopausal women with histories of hysterectomy, oophorectomy, or estrogen use.
  
  
  METHODS
  We calculated the diagnostic performances of panoramic measurements and the OST for identifying women with spinal osteoporosis in both 159 healthy postmenopausal and 157 postmenopausal women with histories of hysterectomy, oophorectomy, or estrogen use. Spinal osteoporosis was defined as a bone mineral density T score of -2.5 or less at the lumbar spine. Cortical shape and width were evaluated on dental panoramic radiographs. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were used to determine the optimal cutoff thresholds for cortical width and the OST in healthy postmenopausal women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sensitivity and specificity, respectively, for identifying women with spinal osteoporosis were 89.5% and 33.9% for cortical width, 86.8% and 57.8% for the OST, and 86.8% and 63.6% for cortical shape in healthy postmenopausal women. Sensitivity and specificity, respectively, were 92.5% and 35.0% for cortical width, 72.5% and 58.1% for the OST, and 80.0% and 64.1% for cortical shape in postmenopausal women with histories of hysterectomy, oophorectomy, or estrogen use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dentists may be able to refer postmenopausal women with suspected spinal osteoporosis for bone densitometry on the basis of dental panoramic radiographs with diagnostic performance similar to that of osteoporosis screening tools based on questionnaires.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Hiroshima University Hospital, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan. akiro@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taguchi
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suei
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanada
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohtsuka
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamoto
authors.forename: Hiroomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sumida
authors.forename: Koso
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohama
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanimoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013131:Spine / Q000473:pathology*