Peak trabecular vertebral density: a comparison of adolescent and adult females.

To determine when spinal bone density reaches its peak, the trabecular vertebral density was assessed, via quantitative computed tomography, among females from two age groups: (1) adolescents (aged 14-19 years; N = 24); and (2) young adults (aged 25-35 years; n =24). The adolescent girls had a higher mean trabecular vertebral density (P less than 0.01), suggesting that spinal density reaches its peak around the time of cessation of longitudinal growth and epiphyseal closure.