Assessment of bone mass in the radius by computed tomography

A reproducible method for quantitative analysis of computed tomographic cross-sections of the distal radius of patients with various metabolic bone diseases is described. A statistically significant correlation between the CT measurements in the radius and quantitative histomorphometric measurement of the trabecular bone volume of corresponding transilial bone biopsies is demonstrated. Selected longitudinal studies are presented to demonstrate the possible clinical applications of this type of CT analysis.