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Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts
Published on: January 29, 2018
WHOLE BODY AND REGIONAL BONE MINERAL CONTENT AND DENSITY IN WOMEN AGED 20-75 YEARS
1University Hospital Alexandrovska, Clinic of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Medical University of Sofia, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Background:
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) allows measurement of whole body (WB) and regional bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD).
Objective:
To measure WB and regional bone area, BMC and BMD (arms, legs, ribs and pelvis) in women of different ages.
Subjects And Methods:
140 women participated (age range 20-75 yrs). Three subgroups were built: 20-44 yr (30 premenopausal women), 45-59 (80 women), and 60-75 (30 women). WB DXA was performed on a Hologic QDR 4500 A bone densitometer (Hologic Inc., Bedford MA). WB BMD T-scores were calculated by using the manufacturer-provided and the NHANES 1999-2004 reference databases, while the WB BMC Z-scores - based on the latter. Statistical analysis was performed on an IBM SPSS Statistics 19.0 for Windows platform (Chicago, IL).
Results:
WB BMC and BMD Z-scores were consistently lower than the reference databases showing a difference of about 0.4 - 0.5 SD. The arms, legs and ribs lost more BMC after the age of 50-55, while the pelvis - much earlier. The total decreases in BMC were highest in the pelvis (26.36 %), followed by the arms (16.81 %) and whole body (15.91 %), while the bone area decreased mostly in the pelvis (13.23 %).
Conclusion:
The age-related declines in regional BMC, bone areas and BMD follow different patterns in appendicular and axial bones.
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