Objective:

Osteoporosis is an important condition in an epidemiologic level in Argentina as in the rest of the world. Even though nowadays the most relevant diagnostic technique is bone densitometry, radiological studies can provide useful information, mainly in relation to bone quality. For this purpose, we aim to evaluate the calcaneus trabecular structure in a contemporary local population.

Methods:

The sample for this study consisted of 91 calcaneus from skeletons belonging to the skeletal repository. Adult individuals from both sexes were analyzed, to classify their trabecular structure according to the index proposed by Jhamaria et al., on a scale of V (normal) to I (severe osteoporosis).

Results:

The estimated prevalence were 23,1% of osteoporosis (phase I and II), 16,5% of borderline (phase III) and 48,4% were classified as normal trabecular structure (phase IV and V). In relation to the age of the individuals, a significant negative correlation was found between the first and the trabecular loss (tau-b = -0.524, p = 0.00). No significant differences were found in relation to the sex prevalence of this pathology.

Discussion:

The association found between aging and osteoporosis matches with the results of national and international studies that recognize that a decrease in Bone Mineral Density (BMD) and a bad bone quality in older adults. Absence of differences between sexes in this condition could be due to age average of the sample, added to the possible resistance of the calcaneus spongy structure to changes generated by estrogen deficit in women, characteristic of osteoporosis type I.

Conclusion:

We believe that it is necessary to revalue bone analysis by radiographic means, since they can be of use both in clinic and in basic research, due to a greater equipment availability and because they allow the analysis of other properties of bone tissue.