Study design:

Retrospective study OBJECTIVE.: To evaluate the usefulness of computed tomography (CT) attenuation in defining trabecular region-of-interest (t-ROI) at lumbar vertebral body in the assessment of osteoporotic compression fracture (OCF) compared to spinal dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Summary of background data:

Even though osteoporosis was not diagnosed in the BMD measurement using DXA, we often experienced cases where the screw was weakly inserted due to low bone quality during screw insertion.

Methods:

A total of 188 patients who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. We determined best cutoff value of the simple t-ROI attenuation at the most relevant level for predicting OCF. We assessed correlations between the simple t-ROI attenuation at the most relevant level and OCF rate, and investigate the association between the number of compression fracture and simple t-ROI attenuation at the most relevant level.

Results:

L4 ROI attenuation is the most accurate measurement for predicting osteoporotic compression fracture with an AUC of 0.798. The optimal cutoff point of L4 ROI attenuation was measured at 90.5 HU with 88.8% and 60.6% sensitivity and specificity, respectively. L4 ROI attenuation was significantly correlated with the osteoporotic compression fracture rate (r = -0.545, p < 0.001). The number of compression fracture (coefficient of determination R2 = 0.286; p < 0.001) was independently correlated with L4 ROI attenuation.

Conclusions:

Simple t-ROI CT attenuation is an accurate measurement tool in predicting OCF compared to DXA T-score. The value of L4 t-ROI attenuation is the most relevant measurement for predicting osteoporotic compression fracture, is an alternative to DXA, and can predict the number and rate of compression fractures. Spine surgeons should be aware of L4 t-ROI attenuation to make successful fusion in spine surgery for elderly patients group.