Representativity of regional to total bone mineral in healthy subjects and 'anticonvulsive treated' epileptic patients. Measurements by single and dual photon absorptiometry.

Dual photon (153Gd) and single photon (125I) absorptiometry were used to measure the regional bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD), as well as the total body mineral content (TBBM) and density (TBBD), in sixty-nine healthy subjects and in twenty-three epileptics on phenobarbitone. The BMCs (and BMDs) of all regions were significantly correlated to each other and to the TBBM (and TBBD). No difference in the ability to discriminate between the different study groups was found for the various regions, excepting the BMD of the head. The relationship between the forearm BMC and TBBM was highly significant, and identical in the five groups. The relationships between spinal BMC and forearm BMC, and TBBM differed in the five groups. It is concluded that some local measurement may be used as estimates of the total body bone mineral in some groups of patients with minor metabolic bone disease and healthy subjects.