The relation between densitometric and quantitative histological analysis of bone specimens from the iliac crest

Roentgendensitometric measurements were correlated with quantitative histological analysis of cortical and cancellous bone from a standard anatomical site on the iliac crest. The point-count method was used to quantitate spongy bone in 8 mu thick sections. Measurements of the thickness of the cortices were made with a micrometric eyepiece. The reproducibility of the method for the roentgendensitometric analysis was found to be about 1 per cent of the mean for all variables. The correlation between roentgendensitometric and histological analysis was found to be low (r=0.44) and could be ascribed mainly to variation in the thickness of the cortices which again was only slightly correlated with the percentage of spongy bone (r=0.39). Both the determination of the amount of bone mineral and of bone by quantitative histometric analysis are required for diagnosis of skeletal system disorders.