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Bone Densitometry
Bone densitometry is an essential tool in osteoporosis management. Densitometry assists physicians in diagnosis, fracture risk assessment, and monitoring response to therapy.
To ascertain a diagnosis of Osteoporosis, physicians utilize bone densitometry to categorize patients as normal, osteopenic, or osteoporotic following the World Health Organization (WHO) classifications.
The patient’s T-score (comparison to the young adult reference) is the critical variable in diagnosis. Typically, both femurs and the spine are assessed, with the diagnosis made using the lowest T-score.
Fracture Risk Assessment Bone mineral density (BMD) is the strongest tool to predict fracture risk, which increases exponentially as BMD decreases.
Monitoring changes in BMD, patients may return for bone density tests every 1-3 years, depending on the expected rate of loss and their clinical situation. BMD may increase over time as a response to therapy, or it may decrease with disease progression or poor response to therapy. Precision (reproducibility) of the BMD measurements is the key factor in detecting changes in patients BMD over time.
At The Bermuda TB, Cancer and Health Association, our technician, Mrs. Patricia Rowse RTR CBI, has successfully completed the required course in Bone Mineral Densitometry and Osteoporosis from the Michener Institute of Applied Health Studies, Ontario, Canada and also holds an Operators Certification form Hologic covering software and hardware operations, quality control and patient positioning for a Fan Beam X-ray Bone Densitometer.
We also supplement our testing by providing information you can use that covers a diverse range of subjects relating to osteoporosis.