The Predictive Value of Skin Thickness in the Diagnosis of Osteopenia

KOBCHITT LIMPAPHAYOM,M.D.*, NIMIT TAECHAKRAICHANA, M.D.*, PICHAI CHOTNOPPARATPATTARA, M.D.*, KRASEAN PANYAKHAMLERD, M.D.*, ATCHARA KUKULPRASONG, M.D.**, SUKANY A CHAIKITTISILPA, M.D.*

Affiliation : * Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, ** Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkom University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.

AbstractSkin and bone share a similar organic constituent (type I collagen) which decreases with time after menopause due to hypoestrogenism. The interdependence of skin and bone atrophy has been reported(!), This study was conducted to assess the predictive value of an ultrasonographic measurement of skin thickness in the diagnosis of osteopenia (BMD below -I .5 SD.) in peri meno- pausal and early postmenopausal women. All patients had skin thickness measured by the same radiologist and had a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan of the lumbar spine and the femoral neck. Of the 77 women studied, the mean age was 50.9 ± 3.0 years. Thirty patients were in perimenopause and 47 in early postmenopause. Mean skin thickness was 2. I ± 0.4 mm. Women with a skin thickness of~ 1.7 mm carried a higher risk for developing osteopenia at the lumbar spine (odds ratio 8.41, 95% confidence interval 2.19-32.35) and the femoral neck (odds ratio 3.88, 95% CI 1.14-13.17). Patients with a skin thickness of;;:: 2.4 mm had a lower probability of osteopenia at the lumbar spines (odds ratio 0.17, 95% CI 0.035-0.845) and the femoral neck (odds ratio 0.22, 95% CI 0.055-0.899). In conclusion, a low skin thickness measurement by ultra- sonography may be used as an indicator for osteopenia in perimenopausal and early postmeno- pausal women.

Keywords : Osteopenia, Skin Thickness, Predictive Value

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