Simple Ultrasound Exam May Predict Osteoporosis Risk

(Geriatrics News and Information) An ultrasound exam of the heel may be able to predict if a woman is at heightened risk for fractures due to osteoporosis according to a new multicenter study being published in the July issue of the journal Radiology Along with certain risk factors including age or recent fall radiationfree ultrasound of the heel may be used to better select women who need further bone density testing such as a dualenergy xray absorptiometry DXA exam Osteoporosis is a major public health issue expected to increase in association with worldwide aging of the population said the studys lead author Idris Guessous MD senior research fellow in the Department of Internal Medicine at Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland The incidence of osteoporosis will outpace economic resources and the development of strategies to better identify women who need to be tested is crucialOsteoporosis is a disease that is characterized by low bone mass and the deterioration of bone tissue and is a major public health threat According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation 10 million Americans currently have osteoporosis and approximately 34 million more are estimated to have low bone mass increasing their risk of developing the disease Eighty percent of those affected are womenPatients with osteoporosis are not optimally treated because of a lack of general awareness Dr Guessous said A simple prediction rule might be a useful clinical tool for healthcare providers to optimize osteoporosis screeningIn the threeyear multicenter study 6174 women age 70 to 85 with no previous formal diagnosis of osteoporosis were screened with heelbone quantitative ultrasound QUS a diagnostic test used to assess bone density QUS was used to calculate the stiffness index which is an indicator of bone strength at the heel Researchers added in risk factors such as age history of fractures or a recent fall to the results of the heelbone ultrasound to develop a predictive rule to estimate the risk of fractures The results showed that 1464 women 237 percent were considered lower risk and 4710 763 percent were considered higher riskStudy participants where mailed questionnaires every six months for up to 32 months to record any changes in medical conditions including illness changes in medications or any fracture If a fracture had occurred the patients were asked to specify the fractures precise location and trauma level and to include a medical report from the physician in charge In the group of higher risk women 290 61 percent developed fractures whereas only 27 18 percent of the women in the lower risk group developed fractures Among the 66 women who developed a hip fracture 60 90 percent were in the higher risk group The results show that heel QUS is not only effective at identifying highrisk patients who should receive further testing but also may be helpful in identifying patients for whom further testing can be avoidedHeel QUS in conjunction with clinical risk factors can be used to identify a population at a very low fracture probability in which no further diagnostic evaluation may be necessary Dr Guessous saidAT A GLANCEnbspnbspnbspnbspA new multicenter study has found that heel ultrasound can help predict fractures due to osteoporosisnbspnbspnbspnbspA predictive rule was developed to determine the risk for fractures using heel ultrasound and other factors such as age or recent fallnbspnbspnbspnbspApproximately 10 million Americans have osteoporosis and approximately 34 million more are at risk Eighty percent of those affected are womenOsteoporotic Fracture Risk in Elderly Women Estimation with Quantitative Heel US and Clinical Risk Factors Collaborating with Dr Guessous were Jacques Cornuz MD MPH Lausanne University Hospital Lausanne Switzerland Christiane Ruffieux PhDUniversity Institute of Social and Preventative Medicine Peter Burckhardt MD BoisCerf Clinic Lausanne Switzerland and MarcAntoine Krieg MD Lausanne University Hospital Lausanne Switzerland Journal attribution requestedRadiology is edited by Herbert Y Kressel MD Harvard Medical School Boston Mass and owned and published by the Radiological Society of North America Inc RSNAorgradiologyjnl httprsnaorgradiologyjnlThe Radiological Society of North America RSNA is an association of more than 41000 radiologists radiation oncologists medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research RSNAorg httpwwwrsnaorg For patientfriendly information on ultrasound visit RadiologyInfoorg...