A comparison of the risk of vertebral fracture in menopausal osteopenia and other metabolic disturbances.

The risk of atraumatic compression fracture in postmenopausal women increases as vertebral trabecular bone density decreases. To determine whether the risk is similar for patients who have other metabolic disorders, we compared eight-nine patients who had various disturbances affecting bone and sixty-three postmenopausal women who had no evidence of underlying disease. Trabecular bone density was measured by quantitative computed tomography of the lumbar spine. The relationship between frequency of fracture and bone density was modeled mathematically with spline threshold, quadratic polynomial, and decaying exponential functions. Analysis of covariance showed that the diagnostic category did not influence the relationship between frequency of fracture and bone density in any of the three models. We concluded that the risk of atraumatic compression fracture, as assessed by measurement of vertebral trabecular bone density using quantitative computerized tomography, is independent of the underlying metabolic disturbance.