Broadband ultrasound attenuation of the os calcis in female postmenopausal patients with cervical and trochanteric fracture.

The broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) of the right calcaneus was measured in 78 women with hip fracture (45 trochanteric and 33 cervical) and in 85 normal women (mean age 78 years and 63 years, respectively). All cases were postmenopausal and the hip fractures had resulted from a fall from standing position or less. The women with hip fracture had lower BUA (41 dB/MHz) than normals (67 dB/MHz), but about 10 dB/MHz of this difference was associated with age. There was no significant difference in BUA between cases with trochanteric (41 dB/MHz) and those with cervical fracture (39 dB/MHz). It is worth noting that 35.5% of the women with trochanteric fracture were suffering from osteoarthrosis of the knees but only 15% of the women with cervical fractures had the same problem. Over 90% of the cases with hip fracture had BUA lower than 61 dB/MHz and 80% had lower than 51 dB/MHz.