Intermethod variation in bone histomorphometry: comparison between manual and computerized methods applied to iliac bone biopsies.

The intermethod variation in the measurement of basic bone histomorphometric parameters was evaluated on 100 undecalcified transiliac bone biopsies. Two contiguous samples were taken from 50 patients (33 females; 17 males; mean age: 52 +/- 19 years) for diagnostic purposes. The diagnoses were osteoporosis (n = 38), renal osteodystrophy (n = 18), primary hyperparathyroidism (n = 16), osteomalacia (n = 12), metastatic bone disease (n = 2), thyrotoxic bone (n = 2), fluorosis (n = 2), and 10 biopsies were considered as "normal" bone. Trabecular bone volume (TBV) was measured with both a manual integrating eyepiece and an automatic (QUANTIMET 720-Cambridge Instruments, Cambridge, England) method. Trabecular resorption surfaces (TRS), trabecular osteoid surfaces (TOS), and volume (TOV) were measured with both a manual and a semiautomatic (VIDEOPLAN-Kontron, Munich, West Germany) method. The calcification rate (CR) was measured with both a manual and a semiautomatic method in eight cases after double labeling with tetracycline. Inter- and intraobserver variations were always lower with the automatic and semiautomatic methods than with the manual method, except for TOV. For all the parameters there was a highly significant correlation between manual and computerized methods (0.98 greater than r greater than 0.90). For TBV and CR no significant difference was noted, but for TBV the QUANTIMET appeared more sensitive, that is, better able to detect low values of the structure to be measured. For TRS, the manual method underestimated low values and appeared less sensitive than the semiautomatic method. For the 100 biopsies, the VIDEOPLAN underestimated the osteoid parameters by 13% for TOS and 26% for TOV.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)