Skeletal demineralization in Turner's syndrome

The bone mineral status of 17 girls with Turner's syndrome was evaluated by single photon absorptiometry. Bone mineral content (BMC) was 25.4% below that predicted by normalization for age, sex, height, weight, and bone width. Only 25% of this demineralization could be attributed to delayed skeletal maturation. Bones of girls who received estrogen replacement therapy were less demineralized than those of the others. The bone mineral deficit became less pronounced with advancing age. It could not be determined if the apparent effect of estrogens was related to age or if the apparent improvement with age was really due to an effect of estrogen treatment. For 8 subjects followed longitudinally there was no significant change in the BMC deficit.