Researchers have found a new use for cardiac CT exams—osteoporosis screening. The team shared its findings in the newest issue of Radiology, the official journal of the Radiological Society of North America.
Physicians typically turn to bone mineral density (BMD) tests to diagnose osteoporosis, but having another option—one that patients are getting anyway to treat heart-related conditions—means more patients can receive the care they need.
“Osteoporosis is a prevalent, under-diagnosed and treatable disease associated with increased morbidity and mortality,” lead author Josephine Therkildsen, MD, from Herning Hospital in Denmark, said in a statement. “Effective anti-osteoporotic treatment exists and so, identifying individuals with greater fracture rate who may benefit from such treatment is imperative.”
Therkildsen et al. tracked nearly 1,500 patients who underwent a cardiac CT exam to evaluate heart disease. Each patient also had BMD testing.
Overall, the authors reported, 12% of patients had a very low BMD. During a follow-up exam, 5.3% of patients were diagnosed with a fracture—and that fracture was related to osteoporosis 39% of the time.
This association between a very low BMD and experiencing a fracture is crucial, and the study’s authors noted that BMD testing can be added to cardiac CT exams without adding any time to the exam or exposing the patient to any radiation.
“We believe that opportunistic BMD testing using routine CT scans can be done with little change to normal clinical practice and with the benefit of identifying individuals with a greater fracture rate,” Therkildsen said.
The full Radiology analysis is available here.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.