Are patients with fractures of the femoral neck more osteoporotic?

Combined cancellous/cortical density and mass in the femur and lumbar spine were assessed 2 or 3 days after femoral neck fractures and compared to identical measurements in control subjects. Cancellous density was also assessed in the spine. Correction for age differences between patients and controls were made by means of regression analyses and by selecting groups without age differences. After compensation for the age differences, the patients were found to have significantly lower femoral bone mass and lumbar density than the controls. The femoral density and lumbar mass density were not significantly different in the two groups after age correction. The findings for the cancellous spinal density was equivocal. The study indicates that in the femur the total bone mineral content is lower in patients with femur neck fractures and that it is at least one of the etiological factors of these fractures. However, in the femur it is not the bone density that is the decisive factor, but the amount of calcified bone, or the bone mass.