The bone mineral content and cortical thickness in young women with femoral neck fracture.

The bone mineral content in the shafts of the forearm in 17 women with cervical fracture of the upper end of the femur was low. The cortex of the femoral neck was also lower than normal. Thus women with hip fractures at an early age may have lower than average total skeletal tissue density. This may be due not simply to systemic osteoporosis but possibly to constitutionally thin bone cortices.