Trabecular osteopenia in Colles' fracture
Härmä, M.; Karjalainen, P.
Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavica 57(1): 38-40
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0001-6470 PMID: 3962630 Document Number: 273093
Bone density was measured in 23 postmenopausal women with Colles' fracture. Trabecular spine density was measured by quantitative computed tomography. The bone mineral density in the distal radius and in the diaphysis of the radius and ulna was measured by the gamma ray attenuation method. Compared with age-matched controls, the patients were found to have reduced trabecular bone mass in the spine and distal radius, but not osteopenia in the diaphysis of the radius and ulna. The mean age-correlated decrease was 0.7 SD in the spine and the 0.5 SD in the distal end of the radius. The results suggest that patients with Colles' fracture have trabecular but not cortical osteopenia.