Validity of Hounsfield Units from computed tomographic images of mandibular bone in detection of osteoporosis

Abstract

Background: The figure for the clinical application of computed tomography have been increased significantly inoral and maxillofacial field that supply the dentists with sufficient data enables them to play a main role in screeningosteoporosis, therefore Hounsfield units of mandibular computed tomography view used as a main indicator topredict general skeleton osteoporosis and fracture risk factor.Material and Methods: Thirty subjects (7 males &23 females) with a mean age of (60.1) years underwent computedtomographic scanning for different diagnostic assessment in head and neck region. The mandibular bone quality ofthem were determined through Hounsfield units of CT scan images and were correlated with the bone mineraldensity values obtained from t-scores of lumbar spine using dual x-ray absorptiometry scans (DEXA).Results: There was a highly significant positive correlation [p-value 0.000 (HS)] of bone mineral density that measuredby t-score of dual x-ray absorptiometrical scan and Hounsfield units with very strong relation in measuring the bonedensity (r test) = 0.969, this close relation lead to predict osteoporosity and the chance of fracture occurrence usinga statistical equation that classified the patients as osteoporotic.Conclusion: Hounsfield units obtained from computed tomography scans that are made for any purposes canprovide an alternative clinical parameter to predict osteoporosis at no additional cost to the patient and noadditional radiation.