PURPOSE

To explore sonographic cortical bone thickness (CoT) as a potential indicator of bone mineral density (BMD) measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for screening and diagnosing pediatric osteoporosis.

METHODS

A prospective study included 41 osteopenic or osteoporotic patients and 52 healthy children. Radius cortical thickness (R-CoT), tibial cortical thickness (T-CoT), and second metatarsal cortical thickness (M-CoT) were measured by B-mode ultrasound; CoT values were compared between groups and the correlation between BMD and CoT was examined.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in R-CoT (P = 0.433), T-CoT (P = 0.057), and M-CoT (P = 0.978) values between the patient and control groups. No significant correlations were found between BMD T-scores and R-CoT (r = −0.073, P = 0.490), T-CoT (r = −0.154, P = 0.141), and M-CoT (r = 0.047, P = 0.657) values.

CONCLUSION

Sonographic CoT values in children do not correlate with BMD values. Unlike in adults, sonographic CoT measurements do not appear to have a role in assessing BMD in the pediatric population.

Keywords: Osteoporosis, children, bone, density, cortical, thickness, ultrasonography