title: Association of the presence of bone bars on radiographs and hip fracture in postmenopausal Caucasian women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the presence of bone bars (BB) identified on anteroposterior hip radiographs are more prevalent in patients that have had a hip fracture as compared to patients without a fracture.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-two Caucasian women with a unilateral proximal femur fracture were retrospectively evaluated and randomly selected using radiology database records to comprise the investigational group. Ninety-eight age-matched Caucasian women without hip fracture were selected as a control group. Anteroposterior hip radiographs were evaluated for the presence of BBs by two musculoskeletal radiologists. Chi-square tests were used to assess whether fractures were more prevalent in patients with BB than those without BB.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patient population was comprised Caucasian women with a mean age of 79.8 ± 6.4 years in the control group and 79.9 ± 6.6 years in the investigational group. Regardless of the reader, BB were identified in a significantly higher percentage of women with a fracture (75 versus 39%, p < 0.001 or 53 versus 38%, p = 0.041) as compared to those without a fracture.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BB are associated with hip fracture. Their presence is a trigger for requesting a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) examination to confirm or refute a diagnosis of low bone mineral density (BMD) and a subsequent increased risk of fracture.
authors: University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, USA. sarvedb@uab.edu
authors: D B
authors: DB
authors: Sarver
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Lopez-Ben
authors: S L
authors: SL
authors: Morgan
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Rehder
authors: J N
authors: JN
authors: Duke
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Fineberg
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: Pitt
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015519:Bone Density; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006615:Hip / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000208:ethnology*; D017698:Postmenopause; D015995:Prevalence; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*