[Diagnostic significance of morphological changes in biopsies of the pelvic crest (author's transl)].

Pelvic crests of 265 autopsies were histologically investigated. In nearly all cases with chronic diseases a remodelling of bones and especially processes of bone resorption were found. A fibroosteoclastic bone resorption was evident in 28 of 40 cases with chronic renal failures, in 5 of 26 cases with chronic lung diseases and/or chronic insufficiency of the right heart ventricle, in 4 of 12 cases with chronic diseases of the gastro-intestinal tract, and in a case of lung cancer. Processes of bone formation were less prominent. The findings indicate that several chronic diseases caused by different overlapping pathogenetic mechanisms can principally lead to the same spectrum of alterations of bone structure. This and the aetiological ambiguity of typical patho-histological reaction patterns of bones require a critical reserve in the interpretation of adequate findings in bone biopsies. It has been pointed out that the use of morphometric methods and the use of slices of undecalcified bones are necessary to obtain a reliable diagnostic tool in bone biopsies.