Trabecular bone score to assess bone microarchitecture in end-stage renal disease patients

This study evaluates TBS for estimating bone microarchitecture in ESRD patients using HR-pQCT as the reference technique.

TBS correlates significantly with vBMD and bone microarchitecture, unlike aBMD.

TBS may complement bone health assessment in ESRD patients by offering additional information alongside aBMD.

Given the high fracture risk, non-invasive techniques for assessing bone fragility in chronic kidney disease (CKD) remain important. Trabecular bone score (TBS) may provide additional information that could help guide treatment and follow-up decisions. The aim of this study is to investigate whether TBS reflects bone microarchitecture in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) as the reference technique. Additionally, we aim to identify parameters associated with a low TBS.

Seventy-five ESRD patients were included at the time of kidney transplantation (KTx). Areal bone mineral density (aBMD) was analyzed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). TBS was assessed from the L1-L4 area during DXA. Volumetric BMD (vBMD) and bone microarchitecture at tibia and radius sites were analyzed using HR-pQCT.

In ESRD patients, those with TBS < 1.370 were older and had a higher body mass index (BMI). In contrast to T-score-based classification (≤ -2.5 or > -2.5), low TBS was linked to significantly lower trabecular and cortical vBMD, reduced trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and trabecular number (Tb.N), and increased trabecular separation (Tb.Sp). In multivariate analysis, older age, higher BMI, and lower Tb.N remained independently associated with low TBS, while no HR-pQCT parameters were linked to low aBMD (T-score ≤ -2.5).

TBS correlates with both trabecular and cortical parameters measured by HR-pQCT, potentially offering a complementary perspective on bone microstructure compared to aBMD. At the time of KTx, a low TBS appears to better discriminate patients with significantly lower vBMD than aBMD alone.