Femoral neck and lumbar spine bone mineral densities in a normal population 3-20 years of age.

Dual-photon absorptiometry (DPA) with a 153gadolinium radionuclide source was used to measure bone mineral in the lumbar spine of 109 subjects and the femoral neck of 100 subjects 3-20 years of age. From the scan data collected, multiple linear regression models were developed to predict the measured bone mineral density values as a function of age, height, and weight; male and female data were evaluated separately. From the table of predicted values, a particular subject's bone mineral measurements can be readily compared with that of normal subjects in the same way "growth charts" are commonly used to assess development.