Ability of ultrasound bone profile score (UBPS) to discriminate between fractured and not fractured osteoporotic women

In this study, we evaluated the ability of different quantitative ultrasound (QUS) parameters (speed of sound, SOS, coefficient of variation, CV, = 0.34% and broadband ultrasound (US) attenuation, BUA, CV = 3.25% measured at the heel by an Hologic Sahara unit; Ad-Sos and ultrasound bone profile score (UBPS) at the proximal phalanges by an Igea DBM Sonic 1200 unit, Ad-Sos CV =: 0.57%) to detect differences between osteoporotic patients with vertebral fractures and osteoporotic patients without fractures. We examined 87 women with primary osteoporosis: 53 women with femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD) T scores less than -2.5 SD and no vertebral fractures and 34 women with one or more vertebral fractures, regardless of T score values. Considering all the patients together, the correlations between QUS parameters and BMD resulted in statistical significance (p < 0.05) only for BUA and femoral neck BMD. Lumbar and femoral neck BMD did not statistically differ between the two groups, while UBPS, which is a quality control of measurement and is correlated with bone quality, was significantly higher in women without fractures than those with fractures; the other QUS parameters were not statistically different. Our data indicate that, among QUS parameters, only UBPS is able to detect differences among osteoporotic patients with and without vertebral fractures. (E-mail: giancarlo.isaia@unito.it) (C) 2002 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.