RESUMO
Hip fracture is frecuent in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. The aim of this work was to assess bone mass in women with hip fracture and compare it with that of normal women. Bone densities of lumbar spine (considering areas with and without spondylosis), female neck, greater trochanter and unfractures hip Ward's triangle were measured with a double beam isotopic densitometer. Thirty one women aged 58-95 years old were studied and compared with normal women studied at the same laboratory. Bone densities in fractures and normal women were 0.82ñ0.16 and 0.85ñ0.05 g/cm2 in lumbar spine respectively (NS), 0.74ñ0.15 and 0.85ñ0.05 g/cm2 in lumbar spine without spondylosis respectively (p<0.001), 0.60ñ0.11 and 0.65ñ0.08 g/cm2 in femoral neck respectively (NS), 0.49ñ0.09 and 0.52ñ0.09 g/cm2 in greater trochanter respectively (p<0.001) and 0.48ñ0.12 and 0.52ñ0.09 g/cm2 in Ward's triangle respectively (NS). It is concluded that the larger differences in bone density between women with and without hip fracture are observed in the greater trochanter