Trabecular architecture in iliac crest bone biopsies: Infra-individual variability in structural parameters and changes with age

Bone Histomorphometry and Bone Quality in Primary Hyperparathyroidism

“…51 Furthermore, there was an age-related decline of cancellous bone volume in both patients and controls, with preservation of the normal architecture in hyperparathyroid subjects but a contrasting loss of structure with age in the controls 51 ( Figure 29.4), confirming previous findings. [29][30][31]50 The striking contrast between the effects of PHPT on cancellous bone (preservation) and cortical bone (loss) at the iliac crest was recently highlighted in a study in which our laboratory documented the effects of vitamin D deficiency on bone structure in patients with PHPT. 66 We studied 30 patients with PHPT, the majority of whom were women.…”

“…31,50 In PHPT, cancellous bone structure appears to be preserved through the maintenance of trabecular plates, which remain connected despite age-related thinning. 50 This concept is supported by the findings of Christiansen et al 51 This pattern of bone loss is more consistent with the normal aging pattern observed in men as opposed to women.…”

“…Other variables of bone structure have been used to study cancellous bone architecture. These variables include trabecular number, trabecular width, trabecular separation, and, more recently, marrow star volume, 25,[29][30][31][32][33][34] total strut length, node number, node-to-node strut, node-to-terminus and terminus-to-terminus strut lengths, and node-to-terminus ratio [34][35][36] (Table 29.1). All these indices are obtained using manual stereologic methods or computer-assisted or automated image analysis technology.…”

Star volume in bone research. A histomorphometric analysis of trabecular bone structure using vertical sections

“…Sex-related differences in changes of trabecular bone structure in the iliac crest have previously been suggested from area and perimeter measurements on histological sections (Parfitt et al, 1983;Parfitt, 198413;Weinstein and Hutson, 1987;Parisien et al, 1988) as well as from a computerized model (Garrahan et al, 1985) expressing different trabecular two-dimensional, sectional components as nodes, free ends and struts Mellish et al, 1989). A low ratio of node to free ends (N/F) was said to indicate a broken trabecular structure, and strut counts were said to provide information about the number of structural elements.…”

Imaging Mineralized Tissues in Vertebrates

“…In general, histomorphometric data reveal quite large variations even for healthy individuals and therefore only relatively large deviation from normal can be identified in pathologically altered tissue. This circumstance is mainly caused by the high biological variability at the biopsy site 106 and because 2D histomorphometry using only few or even a single section is a poor representation of the 3D situation.…”