Trabecular spacing in post-menopausal Australian women with and without vertebral fractures

Histomorphometric measurements were made from iliac crest biopsies of 32 women with vertebral fractures and 37 women without fracture. All were post-menopausal Australian women who had presented with back pain to a hospital out-patient endocrinology clinic. Bone from the fracture cases was characterised by loss of individual trabecular elements, with the remaining trabeculae being spaced further apart than those in the non-fracture women (p less than 0.0001). This resulted in a significant decrease in trabecular bone volume (p less than 0.01). In addition osteoid surface was reduced (p less than 0.01). Dynamic parameters of bone turnover were not significantly different between the two groups. These data should be useful for the assessment of iliac bone histomorphometry in Australian post-menopausal women suspected of having osteoporosis.