Comparison between quantitative calcaneal and tibial ultrasound in a DutchCaucasian pediatric and adolescent population

In the field of bone densitometry, attention has recently been focused on t he pediatric population. Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) as bone assessment t echnique has many advantages for children in comparison with bone assessmen t techniques that use ionizing radiation. In this pilot study, we investiga ted the use of calcaneal and tibial QUS systems in a healthy Caucasian pedi atric population. We studied 120 healthy Caucasian Dutch children between a ges 7 and 19 yr: 53 boys (mean age of 12.5 yr, range 4.5-18) and 67 girls ( mean age of 13.5 yr; range 7.1-19). We recruited children from a large popu lation who previously had participated in a bone assessment study performed at our hospital. Two operators performed calcaneal QUS of the right calcan eus and tibial QUS of the right tibia. The correlation between calcaneal an d tibial ultrasound was modest but significant (r = 0.29; p < 0.01). Using the calcaneal device, we found in girls a weak positive correlation between skeletal age and speed of sound (SOS) (r = 0.38), broadband ultrasound att enuation (r = 0.57), and quantitative ultrasound index (r = 0.46), all with a value of p < 0.01. For boys all parameters failed to reach significance. Using the tibial device, we found a good correlation between skeletal age and SOS in girls (r = 0.76) and modest correlation in boys (r = 0.50), both with a value ofp < 0.01. This is one of the first studies to present a com parison between two ultrasound techniques in children. At present we feel t hat, in light of the poor correlation with skeletal age, calcaneal ultrasou nd has yet to prove its efficacy in children. Tibial ultrasound seems to be a good bone assessment technique in children.