The effect of extending femur scan length on BMD results on the Hologic Discovery-W scanner

Ginnie L Prater; Lawrence G Jankowski; Frederick Peace; Nancy Nunnally; Leandria Burroughs; Sarah L Morgan

doi:10.1016/j.jocd.2013.09.019

The effect of extending femur scan length on BMD results on the Hologic Discovery-W scanner

J Clin Densitom. 2014 Oct-Dec;17(4):518-21. doi: 10.1016/j.jocd.2013.09.019. Epub 2013 Oct 29.

Authors

Ginnie L Prater¹, Lawrence G Jankowski², Frederick Peace³, Nancy Nunnally⁴, Leandria Burroughs⁴, Sarah L Morgan⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program, School of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, Morton Grove, IL, USA.
³ Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
⁴ The UAB Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Clinic, Birmingham, AL, USA.
⁵ Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; The UAB Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Clinic, Birmingham, AL, USA.

PMID: 24176430
DOI: 10.1016/j.jocd.2013.09.019

Abstract

A longer dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan field of the hip may be useful for the detection of atypical subtrochanteric femur fractures. It has been demonstrated in a Prodigy GE/Lunar scanner that extending the scan length does not affect bone mineral density (BMD) results at the total hip or femoral neck. We hypothesized that extending the scan field on a Hologic Discovery scanner would also have no effect on BMD results at the hip. Thirty subjects who presented for standard of care dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans underwent paired default (15.2 cm) and extended (24.1 cm) length hip scans. There was no significant difference in the total hip or any of the component subregions of femoral neck, greater trochanter, or intertrochanteric (shaft) BMD between the default and extended length scans.

Keywords: Atypical subtrochanteric femur fracture; DXA; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; femur length; scan field.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Absorptiometry, Photon / instrumentation*
Bone Density*
Female
Femoral Neck Fractures / diagnostic imaging*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged