Abstract
Bone mass has been determined at the distal third of the radius shaft by measuring the attenuation of a beam from a 125-I source when it crosses bone. This technique has a precision of 2 % and the radiation dose to the forearm is 2 mrad (natural dose in Geneva : 2 mrad/week). Three groups of healthy children aged 6 to 19 years have been measured : 967 live in the city of Geneva, 333 in a country village (Vollèges) and 164 in the next village (Sembrancher), where water is naturally fluorised. Bone mass increases with age, and after puberty values of boys are higher than the ones of girls. The differences between the three groups are not significant, but the values obtained in the United-States are at all ages higher than ours. In another group of 96 hospitalised children bone mass has been compared to metacarpal cortical thickness and the correlation is good (r=0.89). A group of about fifty children suffering from various disorders of phasphocalcium metabolism present more or less severely reduced values. This simple, precise and easily reproductible examination is the best one to measure a diminution of bone mass quantitatively, to follow the natural evolution of a disease or the effect of a therapy.
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Donath, A., Indermuhle, P., Nussle, D. et al. In vivo determination of bone mass in children. Pediatr Res 8, 897 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197411000-00022
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197411000-00022