[Quantitative bone ultrasonography: state of the art and perspectives].

Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) is a relatively new method of bone assessment that measures the velocity of sound and the broadband ultrasound attenuation at different skeletal sites: heel and phalanges. This is a mobile, inexpensive, easy to perform and radiation-free technique, capable of assessing not only bone density, commonly measured by means of Single Energy X-ray Absorptiometry, SXA, Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry, DXA and Quantitative Computed Tomography, QCT, but also its elasticity and structure. QUS has been validated for diagnosis of osteoporosis and prevention of hip fractures. Very recently, QUS was also been applied to the study of uremic osteodistrophy, of female premenopausal osteoporosis, male osteoporosis and in paediatric population. Moreover, many studies in the dialysis population has also shown the effectiveness of QUS at the phalanges site in evaluating bone turn-over and bone osteopenia. QUS may be an useful tool for the nephrologist in the day by day monitoring of uremic osteodistrophy and secondary hyperparathyroidism.