[Comparative study of bone mass in various places in patients with osteoporosis]

Radiogrametric values of the second right metacarpal and data obtained by radiographic densitometry in the lumbar cord and the neck of the right femur have been studied comparatively in sixty two women and 6 men, with ages within 24 and 82 years and suspicion of suffering osteoporosis. Cases have been divided into four groups depending on the presence of vertebral fractures (Group I) and the densitometric results at the level of the lumbar cord. The comparison has shown a poor correlation between lumbar densitometric values and the radiogrametry, both in the cases considered normal and pathogenic. We conclude that the radiogrametry has a small discriminant value in the diagnosis of the post-menopause osteoporosis. On the contrary, absorptiometry in the neck of the femur has a significant correlation with radiogrametry in healthy individuals.