Wilton T J, Hosking D J, Pawley E, Stevens A, Harvey L
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, England.
J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1987 Nov;69(5):765-8. doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.69B5.3680338.
In this study 201 elderly patients with femoral neck fractures were compared with 30 osteomalacic patients with the same injury. Hypocalcaemia and a raised alkaline phosphatase level are common biochemical abnormalities in elderly patients with femoral neck fractures. In only a minority of patients, however, were they associated with histologically proven osteomalacia. By using the combination of hypocalcaemia and a raised alkaline phosphatase it is possible to identify a subgroup (approximately 10% of all admissions) in whom osteomalacia is relatively likely.
