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Bone mineral content: data analysis
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, OH 45267-0541.
Insights
Intrauterine bone mineral content (BMC) reference curves from Greer and Minton for infant radius are similar and recommended. Expressing results using BMC and bone width (BW) aids growth assessment, but BMC/BW ratio alone may obscure data.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Bone Densitometry
- Fetal Development
Background:
- Accurate assessment of intrauterine bone mineral content (BMC) is crucial for evaluating fetal skeletal growth.
- Existing literature presents various methods for measuring and expressing infant bone parameters.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and synthesize existing literature on intrauterine bone mineral content (BMC) curves and their expression in infants.
- To evaluate the utility of different measurement expressions, including bone mineral content (BMC) and bone width (BW), for assessing infant bone growth.
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive literature review focusing on intrauterine bone mineral content (BMC) curves and measurement expression in infants.
- Comparative analysis of established reference curves (Greer and Minton) for radial bone mineral content (BMC).
Main Results:
- The bone mineral content (BMC) curves developed by Greer and Minton for the infant radius show high similarity and are proposed as a unified reference.
- Expressing assessment results using both bone mineral content (BMC) and bone width (BW) allows for the evaluation of bone mass growth relative to bone size growth.
- The bone mineral content (BMC)/bone width (BW) ratio, while conceptually interesting, does not offer advantages alone and may mask critical information.
Conclusions:
- The Greer and Minton bone mineral content (BMC) curves for the infant radius are comparable and should be adopted as a standard reference.
- Utilizing both bone mineral content (BMC) and bone width (BW) provides a more comprehensive assessment of infant bone development than the BMC/BW ratio alone.
- Further research is needed to validate the clinical utility of the BMC/BW ratio as an adjunct measure.
Abstract:
We reviewed the literature related to intrauterine bone mineral content (BMC) curves and the expression of BMC measurements in infants. From this review, it appears that the curves developed by Greer and by Minton for the radius are extremely similar and that both should be used as the reference curve. It also appears that expression of assessment results in terms of BMC and bone width (BW) permits an evaluation of growth of bone mass versus growth of size of the bone scanned. Although the BMC/BW ratio might be a useful but unproved conceptual adjunct, expression of photon absorptiometry results in terms of the BMC/BW ratio alone does not confer any specific advantage and theoretically could mask important specific information about bone mass and size.