[Critical study of variations in bone mass measurement by iliac biopsy]

Measurement of the bone trabicular volume (BTV) of 60 iliac crests obtained at necropsy, was done by morphometry on decalcified bone preparation. Changes in the site and the techniques of biopsy introduce variations which may reach 50% for sites which are one or two centimeters apart. The iliac bone is not especially imprecise and should be replaced by the transfixing horizontal biopsy. For a given zone, one observes a good correlation between the BTV and the ash weight per cubic centimeter of psongious bone, a point which justifies the interest in morphometry for the evaluation of the body bone mass.