Diagnostic agreement between radiofrequency echographic multispectrometry and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in the assessment of osteoporosis in a Polish group of patients.

INTRODUCTION

Osteoporosis is still underdiagnosed in Poland, partly due to limited accessibility to the gold-standard diagnostic technique, that is, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of the proximal femur and lumbar spine. The use of radiofrequency echographic multispectrometry (REMS) as an alternative diagnostic tool might be of particular interest because this technique is nonionizing, the devices are portable, and their utilization relatively cheap.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to assess the agreement between a novel quantitative technique (REMS) and DXA in the evaluation of bone mineral density and diagnosis of osteoporosis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

All recruited patients (n = 116) underwent DXA and REMS of the proximal femur and lumbar spine. The diagnostic agreement of REMS was assessed through a direct comparison with DXA results, with separate analysis for the proximal femur and lumbar spine scans. Additional sub-analysis of the impact of sex, age, and BMI was performed.

RESULTS

After the exclusion of patients due to significant skeletal impairments, missing results, and erroneous reports, 66 scans of the femur and 58 scans of the lumbar spine were analyzed. The diagnostic agreement between the results of DXA and REMS was 82.8% in the lumbar spine group and 84.8% in the femur group. Strong correlations between REMS and DXA results were found in both groups, regardless of the sex, age, and BMI.

CONCLUSION

Radiofrequency echographic multispectrometry showed a significant diagnostic agreement with the corresponding DXA measurements. The study further confirms the usefulness of REMS in the assessment of osteoporosis.