ABSTRACT
A decreased bone mineral density, such as osteoporosis, has been considered a factor closely associated with proximal femur fractures. We studied the relationship between osteoporosis and proximal femur fractures. Dual energy radiograph absorptiometry was used to measure the bone mineral density of 121 patients with a femur neck fracture and 134 patients with an intertrochanteric fracture. The bone density of the femoral neck, Ward's triangle, and the trochanteric region were measured. Two hundred seventeen normal patients who had undergone a bone mineral density test and were found to have no proximal femur fracture were used as the control group. Comparative analysis was performed after the patients were subdivided into different groups depending on sex and fracture type. The bone mineral density of the lumbar vertebra in patients with a proximal femur fracture was not significantly different from that of the control group, but the bone mineral density of the proximal femur in patients with a proximal femur fracture was significantly less than that of the control group. The bone mineral density of the group with an intertrochanteric fracture was lower than that of the femur neck fracture group. However, the difference was statistically insignificant. In bone mineral density comparisons, no significant differences were observed between the displaced and undisplaced femur neck fracture group and between the stable and the unstable intertrochanteric fracture group. The bone mineral density of elderly patients with a proximal femur fracture was significantly less than that of normal individuals. However, femur neck fractures in elderly men were less likely to be associated with a decreased bone mineral density. Little correlation between bone mineral densities of the proximal femur and fracture location (neck vs intertrochanter) and type (nondisplaced vs displaced neck, stable vs unstable intertrochanter) was found.
