Computed Tomography Densitometry in Osteoporosis

1. Introduction.- 2. Bone anatomy, physiology and pathology.- Bone anatomy.- Physiology of bone.- Pathology of bone.- 3. Review of literature concerning BMC determination.- Conventional methods.- Photon absorptiometry.- Computed tomography.- Summary.- 4. Methods in CT densitometry.- Principles of CT scanning.- The Philips Tomoscan 300.- Performance of CT densitometry.- 5. Problems and errors.- Device-dependent problems.- Patient-dependent problems.- Personnel-dependent problems.- 6. Phantom studies.- Reliability of the method.- Determination of accuracy and precision.- Translation of HU in terms of BMC.- Dosimetry.- 7. The spine in osteoporosis.- Discussion on osteoporotic changes in general.- Frequency of vertebral collapse.- 8. Methods and material.- Methods.- Material.- 9. Results.- Comments.- 10. Assessment of hypothetically normal values.- 11. Correlation between CT densitometry and other measurements of BMC.- Correlation between CT densitometry and spine score determinations.- Correlation between CT densitometry and metacarpal index estimation.- Correlation between CT densitometry and histologic densitometry.- Comments.- 12. CT densitometry as a prediction for vertebral fractures.- 13. Correlation between mean CT density values in different vertebrae.- 14. The effects of sodium fluoride therapy.- The effect of sodium fluoride therapy measured by CT.- The effect of sodium fluoride therapy measured by histomorphometry.- 15. Management of the patient with osteoporosis.- Complaints.- History taking.- Physical examination.- Diagnostic considerations.- Laboratory examinations.- Orientation on calcium and bone metabolism.- Roentgen diagnosis.- Bone biopsy.- Treatment.- Risks of the therapy.- 16. Summary and conclusions.- Questions.- Conclusions.- References.- Index of subjects.