title: Can dermal thickness measured by ultrasound biomicroscopy assist in determining osteoporosis risk?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A study was undertaken to evaluate the relationship between dermal thickness and bone density. Ninety-eight female subjects were recruited from a population of patients attending a university hospital osteoporosis clinic. The subject population ranged in age from 30 to 88 years with a mean age of 60. The weight range was from 91 to 274 pounds, mean 142 pounds.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dermal thickness measurements were taken at the right forearm using a Longport high resolution 20 MHz ultrasound scanner. Bone density measurements were taken using a GE Lunar Prodigy DXA scanner at both hips.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistical analysis using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the skin measurements showed that the dermal measurement technique was highly reliable (CI=0.87, 0.92). Linear regression was used to examine the value of dermal thickness as a predictor of bone density. The correlation coefficient between dermal thickness and hip T score was statistically significant in the positive direction (corr.=0.304, P=0.001). We further investigated the relationship between dermal thickness and T scores using penalized splines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This analysis indicated that the strongest association with bone density occurred between 1.0 and 1.5 mm of dermal thickness. In those subjects identified as having osteoporosis dermal thickness measure of > or =1.04 corresponds to 4% of the subjects having osteoporosis. If dermal thickness is <1.04 then 23% have osteoporosis.
authors.affiliation: University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA. pcagle@kumc.edu
authors.forename: Perri E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Cagle
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dyson
authors.forename: Byron
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gajewski
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lukert
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density; D046169:Dermoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012867:Skin / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014463:Ultrasonography