[Radiologic diagnosis and densitometry of osteoporosis]

The principles of densitometric and radiological examination in diagnosing of osteoporosis are presented. Peripheral and whole body densitometers are described and their quality is assessed on basis of precision and accuracy of bone mineral density measurements (BMD). WHO criteria of diagnosis, which introduce clinical category of the basis of BMD (expressed in T-scores) are described as follows: normal-(T-score up to -1.0); osteopenia-(T-score below -1.0 but more than -2.5); osteoporosis-(T-score -2.5 or below); severe osteoporosis-(T-score below -2.5 and one or more fractures). Evaluation of osteoporotic changes on the spine, pelvis and hand radiographs are discussed. Quantitative and possible quantitative analysis of radiographs are described.