ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This randomized study aimed to evaluate the correlation between bone mineral densities (BMD) measured at different sites and the frequency of vertebral fractures in a group of Serbian postmenopausal women. METHOD: BMD was measured in 130 naïve postmenopausal women by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at the ultra-distal part of the forearms, at the hip and at the lumbar spine. At each of the measurement sites, the patients were categorized as osteoporotic, or osteopenic, or in the reference range. Vertebral fractures were examined using thoracic and lumbar spine radiography. RESULTS: A T-score at different skeletal sites showed discordance in the site-specific region. Vertebral fractures were found in 58.82% of patients with hip osteopenia, in 45% with forearm osteopenia and in 54.54% with lumbar spine osteoporosis. CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed that the reduction of BMD depends on age and choice of measurement site. The best correlation was obtained in the women with osteopenia at all measurement sites. The discovery of vertebral fractures by lateral thoracic and lumbar spine radiography improves prompt treatment. Reference values of BMD do not exclude vertebral fractures. Of vertebral fractures, 72.5% were asymptomatic and thus spine radiographies are obligatory. Currently discussed is the position of DXA for measuring BMD as a method of detection for patients at risk of fracture.
Subject(s)
Absorptiometry, Photon/methods , Bone Density , Postmenopause/physiology , Radiography/methods , Spinal Fractures/diagnostic imaging , Aged , Bone Diseases, Metabolic/complications , Bone Diseases, Metabolic/diagnostic imaging , Female , Forearm/diagnostic imaging , Humans , Lumbar Vertebrae/diagnostic imaging , Middle Aged , Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal/complications , Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal/diagnostic imaging , Pelvic Bones/diagnostic imaging , Reference Values , Reproducibility of Results , Serbia/epidemiology , Spinal Fractures/epidemiology , Spinal Fractures/etiology , Thoracic Vertebrae/diagnostic imagingABSTRACT
In a group of male addictive alcoholics, some palmar and fingerprint characteristics were determined, as well as the ABO, MN, Ss, Kell, Duffy, Lewis, and P blood groups, Rh and Hp phenotypes, HLA and Au antigens, immunoglobulins, blood sugar, cholesterol, SGOT, SGPT, and karyotypes. In comparison with the normal population the alcoholics show increased occurrence of whorls and arches on the fingers, decrease in the total ridge count, sharpening of the atd angle, and separation of the lower from the upper transverse line. Genetic markers in the blood of alcoholics show different frequencies of A, Lewis a-b+, Lewis a-b-, Duffy a-, Duffy a+, SS, and M blood groups, CcD-ee, Hpl-1, Hp2-1 phenotypes, and HLA-5, HLA-7, w10, w16, and w5 antigens. These findings may be expected to lead soon to detection of the predisposition to the development of alcohol addiction caused by some genetic malformations.
