Ultrasound Assessment of Bone Mass in Central Africans Population

Abstract

Background: Osteodensitometry, a procedure increasingly accepted by clinicians to access osteoporosis is not yet fully validated by WHO. It requires the establishment of normal values and references curves for each population, and in our community, this is not yet assessed.

The purpose of this study was twofold: to describe the profile of the speed of sound of proximal phalangeal metaphysis and establish references curves in central Africans and to compare them with those of other populations specially Caucasians.

Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out at Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa from January to December 2016.

Four hundred twenty four subjects aged from 20 to 87 years old, were explored and the speed of sound in theirs proximal phalanges measured using ultrasound equipment. Age, gender, hormonal status and speed of sound were collected and analyzed.

Results: The mean value of the Amplitude Dependent Speed of Sound (AD-SoS) showed a growth feature with age (from 2056 m/sec at second decade of life to 2145.27 m/sec at fourth decade followed by a progressive decrease which was present in both sexes but more marked in postmenopausal women (1927.06 m/sec). This mean value was higher than in Caucasian studies. In this study, age and hormonal status seems to be the bone quality most influencing anthropometric factors as seen in many series.

The curve profile with age was also a polynomial curve as seen in others populations of the world.

Conclusion: This study provides normal data for phalangeal ultrasound measurements and reference curve of central Africans which were compared to those of Western studies.