THE DETERMINATION OF ULTRASOUND VELOCITY IN THE OS CALCIS, THUMB AND PATELLA DURING CHILDHOOD

Maximising the accumulation of bone tissue during growth and puberty i s one of the most important aims in the prevention of osteoporosis. Fo r prevention studies in children it is necessary to develop methods fo r skeletal status without radiation. Ultrasonic velocity (speed of sou nd = SOS) has been proposed as an alternative method. Using a new ultr asonic system (Osteoson K4, Minhorst, Germany), we investigated the re producibility and age-dependency of SOS in several peripheral bones in 218 children and young adults. Intra-observer (day to day) reproducib ility: calcaneus CV = 0.64%, patella CV = 1.18% and thumb CV = 0.43% ( n = 25). Inter-observer reproducibility: calcaneus CV = 1.1%, patella CV = 2.48% and thumb CV = 0.62% (n = 16). SOS in thumb and patella inc reased with age and peaked at 20-25 years. SOS in the calcaneus showed no increase after puberty. Studies in bones from pigs show no depende ncy of SOS from the thickness of analysed cortical or trabecular bone slices. We conclude that the reproducibility of SOS measurements espec ially in the thumb is comparable with those of radiation methods. The SOS data in growing, healthy children and the independency from bone d imensions provides more evidence that SOS describes the elastic qualit ies of the bones.