Vertebral Bone Density Measurements by DXA are Influenced by Hepatic Iron Overload in Patients with Hemoglobinopathies

Interference from metal hardware (piercings; buttons on clothing; and ingested material, e.g. barium) is well documented in bone health assessments by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). It is unknown if iron in hepatic tissue of highly iron-loaded patients could be mistakenly assessed by DXA as bone, and if this would lead to increased areal bone mineral density (aBMD) lumbar spine Z-scores derived by DXA. Our hypothesis is that iron in the liver of heavily loaded patients will artificially raise aBMD in the spine, and thereby lead to an error in the DXA scan.
Source: Journal of Clinical Densitometry - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research