Skin thickness in patients with osteoporosis and controls quantified by ultrasound A scan.

In order to study a possible association between skin thickness and osteoporosis, we measured skin thickness by A mode ultrasound scanning in 20 females with osteoporosis and 20 age- and sex-matched controls. Bone mineral content (BMC) of the lumbar spine and the forearm was measured by dual-photon absorptiometry. BMC of the lumbar spine was significantly reduced in the osteoporotic group as compared to controls (p < 0.002). No difference in skin thickness was found between osteoporotic patients and controls. A statistically significant correlation between skin thickness on the forearm and BMC of the forearm was found (p < 0.02), but was opposed by a lack of correlation between skin thickness and BMC of the lumbar spine. We found a correlation between skin thickness and body weight (p < 0.002), which to our knowledge had not been reported earlier.