RADIOLOGICAL OSTEOPOROSIS: CORRELATION WITH DIETARY AND BIOCHEMICAL FINDINGS

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Abstract
Abstract: Roentgenograms of the lumbar spine, left femur and left hand were obtained on 1451 adults who did not have bone disease or malignant disease. Osteoporosis was visually evaluated on the basis of radiological density and the number of collapsed vertebrae. The height and the antero‐posterior length of the 3rd lumbar vertebra, and the total and medullary diameters of the femur and the 2nd metacarpus were measured. In females, vertebral height decreased with age and the degree of osteoporosis. The ratio of vertebral mid‐height to anteroposterior length decreased in females with age and in both sexes with increasing severity of osteoporosis. The ratio of mid‐height to anterior vertebral height was independent of age, sex and the presence of osteoporosis. In tubular bones, the medullary‐canal width increased with age and the severity of osteoporosis, particularly in females. This finding was more pronounced in the metacarpus than in the femur.In 291 of these subjects the dietary intake of calcium and protein was estimated and the urinary excretion of nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and hydroxyproline examined and related to creatinine excretion. Low dietary intakes of calcium in males, and of protein in both males and females, were significantly correlated with the severity of osteoporosis. However, since the consumption of these nutrients decreased with age, and since osteoporosis was more common and more severe in the old people than in the young, it would seem that the correlation of protein and calcium consumption with osteoporosis was age‐dependent. Urinary excretion of calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen in both sexes, and of hydroxyproline in males, was not correlated with osteoporosis.