Reference data of vertebral morphometry by X-ray absorptiometry (MXA) in Argentine women.

Anterior, middle, and posterior heights and A/P and M/P ratios were determined from T5 to L4 in 111 normal Caucasian Argentine women from 20 to 70 years of age using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) densitometry (Expert XL). Scanning time was less than 1 minute and the semiautomatic analysis requires approximately 5 minutes. The precision error for the measurements ranged from 2.2% to 4.6%. The absolute precision error for heights was 0.6 mm. The vertebral bodies tended to be significantly larger in younger women than older women, especially for anterior and middle heights and the A/P and M/P ratios of the midthoracic vertebrae (T6-T10). There were no significant differences between pre- and postmenopausal women in the lumbar vertebral heights. It does not appear that this was a cohort effect because stature was identical in both age groups, and there was no age difference in posterior height. The Expert-XL software normalized the vertebral height based on the average height of the L2-L4 segment in order to minimize the influence of interindividual variation of body size. The average Z-scores for vertebral heights and ratios provided by the software were close to zero indicating that the normalization procedure appropriately corrected for smaller stature in Argentine women. Consequently, the reference values for morphometry X-ray absorptiometry (MXA) were appropriate for our population. In summary, we found that (1) in "normal" women the anterior heights of the thoracic vertebrae (and therefore the A/P ratio) were higher in premenopausal than in postmenopausal women; and (2) the normalization approach corrected for differences of vertebral height and allowed utilization of the manufacturers software in our population.