Validity of Hounsfield units from computed tomographic images of mandibular bone in detection of osteoporosis

الملخص EN

Background : The figure for the clinical application of computed tomography have been increased significantly in oral and maxillofacial field that supply the dentists with sufficient data enables them to play a main role in screening osteoporosis, therefore Hounsfield units of mandibular computed tomography view used as a main indicator to predict general skeleton osteoporosis and fracture risk factor.

Material and Methods : Thirty subjects (7 males & 23 females) with a mean age of (60.1) years underwent computed tomographic scanning for different diagnostic assessment in head and neck region.

The mandibular bone quality of them were determined through Hounsfield units of CT scan images and were correlated with the bone mineral density values obtained from t-scores of lumbar spine using dual x-ray absorptiometry scans (DEXA).

Results : There was a highly significant positive correlation [p-value 0.000 (HS)] of bone mineral density that measured by t-score of dual x-ray absorptiometrical scan and Hounsfield units with very strong relation in measuring the bone density (r test) = 0.969, this close relation lead to predict osteoporosity and the chance of fracture occurrence using a statistical equation that classified the patients as osteoporotic.

Conclusion : Hounsfield units obtained from computed tomography scans that are made for any purposes can provide an alternative clinical parameter to predict osteoporosis at no additional cost to the patient and no additional radiation.