OSTEOPOROSIS SCREENING—RADIOGRAMMETRY REVISITED

摘要: Radiogrammetry remains a convenient method of bone mass measurement. It is the only objective means quantifying metacarpal osteoporosis (OP) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). An automated technique using digitizer (interfaced with an IBM PC) for measurement combined cortical width (CCW) at mid-shaft six metacarpals was evaluated three groups individuals under 50 years age (98 normal controls, 96 RA, 63 SLE). Intra-observer, inter-observer, and inter-institution reproducibility assessed 'phantom' embedded rectangular mould wax. Intra-patient variation also RA patients seen on two occasions less than month apart. Two hundred fifty-seven subjects were studied. The found to be reproducible single observer, among five different observers separate institutions. showed no significant differences CCW. CCW premenopausal (controls; RA; SLE) studied (p 0.001). calculated 5 min. digitized radiogrammetry improvement Vernier caliper technique. useful epidemiological cross-sectional studies evaluation long-term radiological changes RA.