ArticleNeurospine2023
Which Indicator Among Lumbar Vertebral Hounsfield Unit, Vertebral Bone Quality, or Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry-Measured Bone Mineral Density Is More Efficacious in Predicting Thoracolumbar Fragility Fractures?
Article in Neurospine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Comparative effectiveness of four techniques for identifying vertebral fragility fractures among elderly patients.European radiology · 2025Pooled it
- Abdominal aortic calcification and functional recovery in patients undergoing posterior lumbar interbody fusion: a retrospective cohort study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Preoperative Computed Tomography Aortic Calcification and Attenuation of the Vertebral Body Predict Fractures Post-Kidney Transplantation Using Machine Learning.Clinical transplantation · 2026Article
- Magnetic resonance imaging-derived vertebral bone quality correlates with computed tomography-derived bone density and paraspinal muscle degeneration: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Asian spine journal · 2026Article
- Hounsfield unit measurements from different regions of interest in lumbar spine CT: correlation with DEXA-derived bone mineral density and fracture status.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Article
- Which vertebral levels provide practical HU-based assessment for osteoporosis screening? A comparative analysis from T1 to S2.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Article
- Role of SEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Diagnostic performance of lumbar computed tomography Hounsfield unit thresholds for osteoporosis and osteopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2026Review
- SBMC surgery · 2026Article
- Comparison between Hounsfield unit value and vertebral bone quality score for adjacent vertebral fracture risk assessment after balloon kyphoplasty: a propensity score matching study.Asian spine journal · 2026Article
- Morphological characteristics of lumbar vertebral bodies and regional distribution patterns of bone mineral density: a CT study.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- The association between bone density evaluated on CT or MRI versus the gold standard dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in the lumbar spine and hip: a meta-analysis.Brain & spine · 2026Review
- Disuse Bone Loss in Fusion Constructs After Multilevel Lumbar Fusion: A Computed Tomography Hounsfield Unit Analysis.Neurospine · 2026Article
- Preoperative bone mineral density quantitatively assessed by Hounsfield units is associated with failed back surgery syndrome after lumbar fusion surgery: a retrospective study.Asian spine journal · 2025Article
- Predicting osteoporosis-related complications in lumbar spine surgery using Hounsfield unit and vertebral bone quality scores: A 5-Year follow-up study with principal component analysis insights.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Assessment of Bone Quality Using Vertebral Bone Quality (VBQ) Scores in Spine Surgery-A Critical Assessment and Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Emerging MRI-based spine scoring techniques targeting bone quality to assess osteoporosis, vertebral fracture risk, other spinal degenerative diseases, and post-surgical outcomes.La Radiologia medica · 2025Review
- Does Baseline Hounsfield Unit Predict Patients' Outcomes Following Surgical Management of Unstable Osteoporotic Thoracolumbar Fractures?Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Regional variations and spatial heterogeneity of lumbar CT attenuation are associated with osteoporotic vertebral fracture.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Exploring the impact of body mass index on the accuracy of vertebral bone quality in determining bone mineral density in patients undergoing lumbar fusion surgery.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveHounsfield units (HU), vertebral bone quality (VBQ), and bone mineral density (BMD) can all serve as predictive indicators for thoracolumbar fragility fractures. This study aims to explore which indicator provides better risk prediction for thoracolumbar fragility fractures.
methodsPatients who have received medical attention from The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University for thoracolumbar fragility fractures were selected. A total of 78 patients with thoracolumbar fragility fractures were included in the study. To establish a control group, 78 patients with degenerative spinal diseases were matched to the fracture group on the basis of gender, age, and body mass index. The lumbar vertebral HU, the VBQ, and the BMD were obtained for all the 156 patients through computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). The correlations among these parameters were analyzed. The area under curve (AUC) analysis was employed to assess the predictive efficacy and thresholds of lumbar vertebral HU, VBQ, and BMD in relation to the risk of thoracolumbar fragility fractures.
resultsAmong the cohort of 156 patients, lumbar vertebral HU exhibited a positive correlation with BMD (p < 0.01). Conversely, VBQ showed a negative correlation with HU, BMD (p < 0.05). HU and BMD displayed a favorable predictive efficacy for thoracolumbar fragility fractures (p < 0.01), with HU (AUC = 0.863) showcasing the highest predictive efficacy, followed by the DEXA-measured BMD (AUC = 0.813). VBQ (AUC = 0.602) ranked lowest among the 3 indicators. The thresholds for predicting thoracolumbar fragility fractures were as follows: HU (88),VBQ (3.37), and BMD (0.81).
conclusionAll 3 of these indicators, HU, VBQ, and BMD, can predict thoracolumbar fragility fractures. Notably, lumbar vertebral HU exhibits the highest predictive efficacy, followed by the BMD obtained through DEXA scanning, with VBQ demonstrating the lowest predictive efficacy.
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