Quantitative ultrasound of the calcaneus with parametric imaging : correlation with bone mineral density at different sites and with anthropometric data in menopausal women

Objective: To prospectively study the relationship of quantitative ultrasound of the calcaneus with anthromopometric variables and with bone mineral density (BMD) assessed at the level of the calcaneus as well as at other sites. Method: Osteosonography of the non-dominant calcaneus was performed in 135 menopausal women, using a DTU-one device with parametric imaging. Broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and speed of sound (SOS) were assessed. BMD of the calcaneus (BMDcal) was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), in a subregion matched with the region of interest for osteosonography. BMD of the lumbar trabecular bone was measured using quantitative computed tomography (BMD QCT) while the non-dominant hip was studied using DXA, which provided the total bone mineral density (BMDhip) and that of the Ward triangle (BMDWard). Results: The Pearson correlation coefficients between BUA, SOS and the various measurements of BMD ranged from 0.305 (SOS versus BMDhip) to 0.717 (BUA versus BMDcal). BMD QCT and BMDWard were found to depend on age, but not on weight or height, while BUA, SOS, BMDcal, BMDhip were unrelated to age, but correlated with weight (SOS, BMDhip) or with weight and height (BUA, BMDcal). In a multiple stepwise regression analysis, age was a significant predictor for BMD QCT, BMD hip and BMDWard; BMD QCT, BMDWard and BMDhip admitted BUA as sole predictor, while BMDcal was significantly related to both BUA and SOS. Conclusion: BUA and SOS of the calcaneus, assessed in 135 menopausal women using a parametric imaging device, reflected BMDcal, measured with DXA at a matched region of interest, and did not decline significantly with age.