Measurement of hone mineral density in the proximal humeral region / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To establish a method of measuring bone mineral density (BMD) in the proximal humeral region, and explore the relationship between proximal humeral BMD level and age and body mass index (BMI).Methods A scanning procedure was developed, using a shoulder & forearm position device.Firstly, 30 subjects were examined on the proximal humerus with 2 successive scan sessions to de-termine the short-term precision.Secondly, scanning of the right proximal humerus BMD in 92 healthy women was done.Results Short term precision revealed that RMS SD was 0.011 g/cm2, and RMS CV (coefficient of variation) on BMD measurement was 2.4%.Proximal humeral BMD values decreased with age.No correlation existed between the proximal humeral BMD and BMI.Conclusions The method of measuring BMD over the proximal humeral region is reasonable, and the short term precision of the result is acceptable.Proximal humeral BMD tends to decrease with age.Since the shoulder is subject to the least in-fluence of weight and stress loading, the proximal humeral BMD scan might be an early stage indicator of osteoporosis.