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Updated: Jun 22, 2026
Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts
Published on: January 29, 2018
Bone mineral density in patients with rapidly destructive or common hip osteoarthritis
P Richette1, E Vicaut, M-C de Vernejoul
1Fédération de Rhumatologie, Hôpital Lariboisière, Hôpital Fernand Widal, UFR médicale, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Université Paris 7, 75475 Paris Cedex 10, France. pascal.richette@lrb.aphp.fr
Background:
Recent findings that subchondral insufficiency fracture in the femoral head may precede rapid chondrolysis suggest a role for systemic low bone mass in the genesis of rapidly destructive hip osteoarthritis (RDHOA).
Objective:
To compare bone mineral density (BMD) in females with RDHOA and those with common hip osteoarth-ritis (OA).
Methods:
This prospective case-control study involved 26 females with RDHOA recruited from our institution between March 2000 and November 2006. BMD was measured at the femoral neck and lumbar spine (L1-L4) by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. For comparison, BMD was measured in 33 women with common hip OA who were scheduled for primary total hip arthroplasty.
Results:
Patients with RDHOA and those with common hip OA were similar in age (74.9+/-9.9 vs. 74.7+/-8.8 years) and BMI (26.3+/-4.3 vs. 26.3+/-5 g/m2) and did not differ in mean BMD at the lumbar spine (1.0+/-0.2 vs. 1.1+/-0.2 g/cm2; mean T-score: -0.6+/-1.3 vs. -0.8+/-1.5) or at the femoral neck (0.7+/-0.1 vs. 0.8+/-0.2 g/cm2; mean T-score: -1.5+/-1.1 vs. -1.4+/-1.4).
Conclusion:
The results of this study do not suggest a role for systemic low bone mass in the pathophysiology of RDHOA.
