CANCELLOUS BONE IN HUMAN ACETABULUM - MICRORADIOGRAPHIC AND HISTOMORPHOMETRIC ASPECTS

The acetabular cancellous bone of 18 subjects aged 57-88 years was cha racterized by low mass and a poorly ramified pattern according to micr oradiographic analysis. There was no correlation between the histomorp hometric data of this region and those of the iliac crest. Microcallus es were visible in 13 acetabular samples, whereas they were absent fro m the iliac crest. As the ac etabular trabeculae appeared decidedly lo ngitudinal, age-related bone rarefaction is suggested to occur in two different ways: uniform thinning of the trabeculae and selective disap pearance of transverse elements. The remaining longitudinal trabeculae are considered to be most useful for the weight-bearing function of t he hip joint.