The range of bone mineral density in healthy Canarian women by dual X-ray absorptiometry radiography and quantitative computer tomography.

Bone mass measurements play a crucial role in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) Working Group, osteoporosis in women can be diagnosed if the value for bone mineral density (BMD) is 2.5 or more standard deviations below the mean value of a young reference population. This definition obviously requires the availability of normal data, which should ideally be obtained locally. The objective was establish normal values of BMD in the female Canarian population, by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in the lumbar spine and the proximal femur, and by quantitative computed tomography (QCT) in the lumbar spine, and to study the correlation between the results of both techniques and the changes with age. Seven hundred forty-four Healthy Canarian women, from 20-80 yr old were examined. Measurement of bone density was performed by an Hologic QDR 1000 densitometer (DXA) in the lumbar spine and proximal femur, and by a Toshiba scanner model 600 HQ in the lumbar spine. Both methods show that the peak bone mass is achieved in the fourth decade (30-39 yr). Bone density decreases thereafter with age in the lumbar spine (r = -0.3364 DXA and r = -0.6988 for QCT) and in the femoral neck (r = -0.3988). Bone density mean values obtained by DXA are very similar to those described in Spain and in other European female populations, using the same densitometer. The correlations between both techniques (DXA and QCT) were high and statistically significant (p < 0.001 in every case). Normal values in the normal Canarian women for DXA and QCT are provided. Our results are very similar to those previously described. These two techniques have a close correlation.