[Routine examinations in the densitometry department]

The authors describe observations on the basis of the high number of patients at their osteodensitometry clinic. They found that in ankylosing spondylitis vertebral osteodensity would not be practical to be taken into account for estimating osteopenia. They suggest the "slicing" method of the 4th lumbar vertebra, taking into consideration the middle slice only. The second part of their study proved that daughters of their patients, suffering from osteoporosis with fractured vertebra, had significantly lower osteodensity as compared with the age and menstrual cycle-matched controls.