Ultrasound Densitometry in Children with Impaired Renal Function

Overview

Bone disease (BD) is a frequent finding in patients with chronic renal insufficiency. Early detection andtreatment of BD is necessary to prevent severe bone deformities. Recently, new techniques of dual energy X-rayabsorptiometry (DEXA) and ultrasound densitometry (UD) have been developed to measure bone mineral density(BMD). We studied 45 patients aged 14.9 ± 4.1 years with various stages of chronic renal insufficiency, all childrenunderwent DEXA and UD exam at the same time. BMD and bone mineral content (BMC) is decreased inpreterminal renal failure, dialysis and renal transplanted patients. Significant correlation was found betweenbroadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and site specific BMD and BMC evaluated by DEXA (r = 0.69, p = 0.001and 0.66, p = 0.01, respectively). Similarly, BUA predicted well the whole body BMD and BMC (r = 0.60 and 0.67,respectively). No correlation was found between UD and DEXA expressed in standard deviation scores.In conclusion, a significantly decreased bone mineral density was observed in preterminal renal failure, dialysisand transplanted patients. Parameters of ultrasound densitometry correlate well with site specific and whole bodymineral density and bone mineral content. Ultrasound bone densitometry offers an attractive, simple andnoninvasive prospective to evaluate bone quantity and quality in children.

Key words:
bone disease, chronic renal insufficiency, ultrasound densitometry, dual energy X-ray absorptio-metry DEXA