Total body calcium and bone mineral content: comparison of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry with neutron activation analysis.

The aim of this study was to compare the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurement of bone mass with an independent measure of body calcium obtained by neutron activation analysis (NAA). Total body bone mineral content (BMC) was measured using DXA in 46 subjects in the age range 5-47 years (17 children, 28 young women, and 1 adult male). Total body calcium (TBCa) was measured in the same subjects by in vivo NAA. The correlation between the two measures of bone mass was highly significant (BMC[g] = 3.22 x TBCa[g] - 51.4, r > 0.98, p < 0.0001, SEEBMC = 122.7 g). When BMC was the independent parameter, the SEETBCa was 37.5 g. Bland-Altman analysis indicated a mean difference of 2.8 g with a standard error +/- 4.7 g for TBCaNAA versus TBCaDXA when the BMC values were converted to TBCa. The relative change in bone mass (delta TBCa/delta BMC) for DXA was higher than that reported for dual-photon absorptiometry versus NAA. The findings presented in this study provide translational equations among the DXA and NAA measurements and for the conversion of total body BMC to TBCa in children and young adults.