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Mechanical contributions of the cortical and trabecular compartments contribute to differences in age-related changes in vertebral body strength in men and women assessed by QCT-based finite element analysis
- Source :
- Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, vol 26, iss 5
- Publication Year :
- 2011
-
Abstract
- The biomechanical mechanisms underlying sex-specific differences in age-related vertebral fracture rates are ill defined. To gain insight into this issue, we used finite element analysis of clinical computed tomography (CT) scans of the vertebral bodies of L3 and T10 of young and old men and women to assess age- and sex-related differences in the strength of the whole vertebra, the trabecular compartment, and the peripheral compartment (the outer 2 mm of vertebral bone, including the thin cortical shell). We sought to determine whether structural and geometric changes with age differ in men and women, making women more susceptible to vertebral fractures. As expected, we found that vertebral strength decreased with age 2-fold more in women than in men. The strength of the trabecular compartment declined significantly with age for both sexes, whereas the strength of the peripheral compartment decreased with age in women but was largely maintained in men. The proportion of mechanical strength attributable to the peripheral compartment increased with age in both sexes and at both vertebral levels. Taken together, these results indicate that men and women lose vertebral bone differently with age, particularly in the peripheral (cortical) compartment. This differential bone loss explains, in part, a greater decline in bone strength in women and may contribute to the higher incidence of vertebral fractures among women than men. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
- Subjects :
- Male
Aging
Bone density
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
VERTEBRAL FRACTURE
Medical and Health Sciences
VERTEBRAL STRENGTH
0302 clinical medicine
Engineering
Bone Density
80 and over
Medicine
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Quantitative computed tomography
Tomography
Aged, 80 and over
0303 health sciences
Lumbar Vertebrae
medicine.diagnostic_test
Biomechanics
Anatomy
Biological Sciences
Anatomy & Morphology
X-Ray Computed
Biomechanical Phenomena
medicine.anatomical_structure
Female
Original Article
BONE STRENGTH
Adult
Finite Element Analysis
030209 endocrinology & metabolism
and over
Lumbar vertebrae
Thoracic Vertebrae
03 medical and health sciences
Humans
Compartment (pharmacokinetics)
030304 developmental biology
Aged
business.industry
QUANTITATIVE COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
medicine.disease
BIOMECHANICS
Spine
Vertebra
Osteopenia
Musculoskeletal
Thoracic vertebrae
BONE LOSS
Osteoporosis
business
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15234681
- Volume :
- 26
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d302af26968e8c14d7938f0709dacde2