Quantitative microradiography of cortical bone in disuse osteoporosis following fracture fixation

Stainless steel (elastic modulus 210 GN/m2) and carbon fibre reinforced epoxy resin (elastic modulus 65 GN/m2) plates have been attached to intact femora in cats and the development of disuse osteoporosis assessed by microdensitometric methods after 8 months. The bone adjacent to the stainless steel plate showed evidence of considerable demineralization, both uniformly throughout a section and especially at certain focal points. A noticeable, but much smaller amount of osteoporosis developed adjacent to the composite plate. Various methods of presenting quantitative micro-densitometric data are used.