Measurement of humerus and radius bone mineral content in the term and preterm infant

Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · J. Pediatr.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(88)80610-3· OSTI ID:6827902

Vyhmeister, N R; Linkhart, T A

We compared two anatomic sites for single-photon absorptiometric measurement of bone mineral content (BMC) in term and preterm infants. The distal one third of the radius and the midportion of the humerus were evaluated for measurements of BMC with an unmodified, commercially available bone densitometer. We assessed reproducibility of BMC and bone width (BW) measurements and defined normal at-birth ranges of BMC, BW, and BMC/BW ratio for infants with gestational ages of 24 to 42 weeks. Humerus BMC correlated with gestational age, birth weight, and BW of patients and did not differ from humerus BMC values determined over the same range of gestational ages at another center. Representative serial measurements of two very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of using humerus BMC in longitudinal studies to assess changes in bone mineralization. We conclude that bone densitometer measurements of mid-humerus BMC can be successfully performed and are preferable to similar measurements of the radius for VLBW infants. Normal humerus BMC values were defined for use in diagnosis and evaluation of the efficacy of treatment in VLBW infants who are at high risk of developing osteopenia of prematurity.

• Research Organization: Loma Linda Univ. Medical Center, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6827902
• Journal Information: J. Pediatr.; (United States), Vol. 113
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
MINERALS
MEASURING METHODS
SKELETAL DISEASES
DIAGNOSIS
SKELETON
SINGLE PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
DENSITY
INFANTS
MINERALIZATION
AGE GROUPS
BODY
CHILDREN
COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DISEASES
EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
ORGANS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
TOMOGRAPHY
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