Abstract:
The mechanism of age-related cortical bone loss was investigated in 229 Japanese women, 41–94 years of age, by metacarpal bone mass measurement. While no significant correlation was found between bone width and age, a significant increase in bone marrow width, and significant decreases in cortical bone density and total bone mass were observed in association with aging (P < 0.0001). There was a significant negative correlation between total bone mass and bone marrow width (r=−0.239; P < 0.0005), and significant positive correlations between both total bone mass and cortical bone density (r= 0.539; P < 0.0001) and cortical bone width (r= 0.839; P < 0.0001). The findings suggested that age-related cortical bone loss in middle-aged and elderly women resulted from two different factors; a decrease in cortical bone density caused by progression of intracortical porosity, and a decrease in cortical bone width as a result of bone loss on the endosteal surface. The latter had a greater influence on an age-related cortical bone loss than the former.
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Received for publication on May 19, 1997; accepted on Oct. 15, 1997
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Iwamoto, J., Takeda, T., Otani, T. et al. Age-related changes in cortical bone in women: Metacarpal bone mass measurement study. J Orthop Sci 3, 90–94 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s007760050027
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s007760050027