We compared the bone mass of the vertebral body and posterior elements to determine the contributions of vertebral components to vertebral BMD measurements.
A micro-computed tomography study of lumbar vertebral bone.
From a spine archive, 144 cadaveric lumbar vertebrae (L1–L5) from 48 male human spines (mean age, 50 years) were scanned in air using micro-computed tomography to measure bone volume, bone mineral content (BMC) and BMD of the vertebral body, posterior elements, and entire vertebra. The contributions of the vertebral components to the total vertebral BMC and volume were compared, and the correlations between the BMC and BMD of the vertebrae and their components were examined.
Overall, the vertebral body contributed about one-third of the total vertebral BMC and two-thirds of the total vertebral volume, and the posterior elements contributed the remainder. The vertebral body BMC and BMD were poorly correlated to those of the posterior elements (r=0.39 for BMC and r=0.34 for BMD, p<.0001) and moderately correlated to the whole vertebra (r=0.77 and 0.75, respectively, p<.0001). The BMC and BMD of the posterior elements and whole vertebra were more strongly correlated (r=0.89 and 0.84, respectively, p<.0001).
The posterior elements are the primary contributor to vertebral BMC and BMD measurements. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry spine BMD measurements are likely to be more representative of the posterior elements than the targeted vertebral body. The findings elucidate the extent of the limitation of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry spine BMD measurements.