A 70-year-old woman with a history of veebral crush fracture presents to the osteoporosis outpatient clinic. Which of the following investigations is most useful to assess the extent of her osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a loss of the bone mass. It is impoant to note that the mineralization of the bone is normal. This loss of bone mass means there is an increasing likelihood of fracture with increasing age. Due to the accelerated loss of bone mass following the menopause, elderly women are at a higher risk of osteoporosis than men. There are numerous risk factors for the development of osteoporosis. Among them are Caucasian and Asian ethnic groups, female sex, increasing age, early menopause, smoking, excess alcohol, coicosteroid use, hypogonadism and rheumatoid ahritis. The reduced bone mass of osteoporosis may result in veebral crush fractures, the majority of which are asymptomatic. The extent of osteoporosis is best investigated with a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. This gives a T score, which is the number of standard detions the patient's bone mineral density differs from the population average for a young healthy adult. The World Health Organization defines osteoporosis as a T score of -2.5 or greater (i.e. the bone mineral density of more than 2.5 standard detion below that of the average for a young healthy adult). A T score of between -1.5 and -2.5 is defined as osteopenia. Spinal x-rays (A) are useful to assess veebral crush fractures but cannot assess extent of osteoporosis. Full blood count, bone and liver biochemistry tests (C) are not affected by osteoporosis, making this answer incorrect. Treatment options in osteoporosis include use of bisphosphonates, hormone replacement therapy and raloxifene (a selective oestrogen receptor modulator).
Spinal x-rays
DEXA scan
Full blood count, bone and liver biochemistry blood test
Vitamin D levels