فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: The Index used for osteoporosis detection was BMD measured in L2, L3, and L4vertebrae. We compared the density of the vertebrae to select the one with maximum changein the density for decreasing the cost and the time. Methods and Materials: Ninety sevenosteoporotic post-menopausal women with a mean age of 61.78 ± 8.48 (50 - 86) years anda mean body mass index (BMI) of 24.75 ± 2.66 (kg/m2) (18 - 30) without any known diseasesand on any medication affecting bone mineral density (BMD) were examined at osteoporosissection of a teaching hospital. The vertebral bodies (L2 - L4) of participants were measuredby using a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry system (DEXA). To investigate if the BMDmeasurement of a single vertebra could replace the total L2 -L4 measurement, the mean BMDsand the correlations of the L2 -L4 were compared. Results: Among the 97 studied women, themean BMI was 24.75 ± 2.66. The mean BMD of L2, L3, and L4 vertebrae were 0.7199, 0.7258,and 0.7402, respectively. There was no significant difference between the mean BMD of L2 andL3 vertebrae (P > 0.05), suggesting a strong relationship between L2 and L3. The mean BMDin the L4 vertebra was significantly higher than the other two vertebrae (P < 0.05), Statisticalanalysis showed that the BMD in all three L2, L3, and L4 vertebrae were associated with BMI(r > 0 and P < 0.05), but there was no significant relationship between BMD and age in thethree L2, L3, and L4 vertebrae (r ≅ 0 and P > 0.05). Conclusion: Since the mean BMDs of L2and L3 were not significantly different, and due to a very high correlation between L2 and L3, werecommend the measurement of L2 rather than L2 - L4 in order to save patient scanning time,cost, and the patient X-ray exposure.