[Relationship between calcium salt content in the trunk skeleton and the extremities (calcaneus measurement) (author's transl)].

No statistically significant correlation could be found in a comparative investigation regarding the mineral salt content of the calcaneus and the first lumbar vertebral body in the same test person. Conclusions based on localized individual measurements of the mineral salt content of the calcaneus for the respective vertebral body are, in our opinion not possible with the desired exactness. For orthopedic surgeons in the private practice, only the interpreation of a x-ray of the vertebral column can be used in addition to clinical and laboratory findings to diagnose the onset of generalized osteoporosis. In order to keep the source of error as low as possible in the attempt to diagnose osteoporosis from an x-ray, constant, reproduceable conditions for taking the x-ray (same film,same lighting, same film development and same x-ray focus on the same part of the skeleton) must be used for observing the course of the disease.