Spinal mineral loss in oophorectomized women. Determination by quantitative computed tomography
C. E. Cann, H. K. Genant, B. Ettinger and G. S. Gordan
Computed tomography (CT) provides precise anatomic localization coupled
with quantitative x-ray attenuation information that can be used to
determine bone mineral content. A precise and sensitive method for
vertebral mineral measurement by CT is described and illustrated with
results from an ongoing study of mineral loss in oophorectomized women.
Spinal mineral loss measured by quantitative CT is compared with peripheral
loss determined by photon absorptiometry and radiogrammetry. Vertebral
cancellous bone loss was significant for the group as a whole at 12 months,
while mean peripheral measurements showed no change. In two subjects in
whom mineral change was significant at both sites, spinal loss was
approximately five times greater than peripheral loss.
