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Updated: May 10, 2026
Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts
Published on: January 29, 2018
Bone mineral density differences between femurs of scoliotic patients undergoing dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
M Bandirali1, C Messina, G Di Leo
1Scuola di Specializzazione in Radiodiagnostica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy. michele.bandirali@hotmail.it
Aim:
To investigate whether a difference exists in the bone mineral density (BMD) between femurs in scoliotic patients undergoing dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and whether this difference is related to spine convexity.
Materials And Methods:
Of 1080 consecutive patients who underwent DXA, 127 had lumbar scoliosis seen at DXA. Further, after excluding 30 patients with previous osteoporotic fractures, metallic/image artefacts, soft-tissue calcifications, the BMD differences between femurs of 97 scoliotic patients (94 females; mean age 67 ± 11 years) were analysed. Femurs were classified as ipsilateral or contralateral to the spine convexity. Least significant change was used as a threshold of measurement precision. Differences between femoral neck BMD in respect of and regardless of spine convexity were calculated for each patient. Student's t-test and Wilcoxon's signed-rank test were used to assess significance.
Results:
Fifty-nine of 97 patients (61%) had left-sided scoliosis. Osteoporosis was found in 32/97 patients (33%), osteopenia in 54/97 (56%), and 11/97 (11%) had a normal T-score. Of 97 patients, 46 (47%) had ipsilateral BMD < contralateral BMD. Regardless of spine convexity, 66/97 patients (68%) had different BMD values between femurs. Among them, variation of densitometric diagnosis was seen in 29/66 patients (44%), and in 29/97 patients overall (30%).
Conclusion:
Differences in the femoral neck BMD exist between femurs of scoliotic patients undergoing DXA. Thus, bilateral femoral DXA acquisition is recommended.
