Quantitative ultrasound of the calcaneus with parametric imaging: correlation with bone mineral density at different sites and with anthropometric data in menopausal women

Objective: To prospectively study the relationship of quantitative ultrasou nd of the calcaneus with anthromopometric variables and with bone mineral d ensity (BMD) assessed at the level of the calcaneus as well as at other sit es. Method: Osteosonography of the non-dominant calcaneus was performed in 135 menopausal women, using a DTU-one device with parametric imaging. Broad band ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and speed of sound (SOS) were assessed. B MD of the calcaneus (BMDcal) was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptio metry (DXA), in a subregion matched with the region of interest for osteoso nography. BMD of the lumbar trabecular bone was measured using quantitative computed tomography (BMD QCT) while the non-dominant hip was studied using DXA, which provided the total bone mineral density (BMDhip) and that of th e Ward triangle (BMDWard). Results: The Pearson correlation coefficients be tween BUA, SOS and the various measurements of BMD ranged from 0.305 (SOS v ersus BMDhip) to 0.717 (BUA versus BMDcal). BMD QCT and BMDWard were found to depend on age, but not on weight or height, while BUA, SOS, BMDcal, BMDh ip were unrelated to age, but correlated with weight (SOS, BMDhip) or with weight and height (BUA, BMDcal). In a multiple stepwise regression analysis , age was a significant predictor for BMD QCT, BMD hip and BMDWard; BMD QCT , BMDWard and BMDhip admitted BUA as sole predictor, while BMDcal was signi ficantly related to both BUA and SOS. Conclusion: BUA and SOS of the calcan eus, assessed in 135 menopausal women using a parametric imaging device, re flected BMDcal, measured with DXA at a matched region of interest, and did not decline significantly with age. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.