OT: Can Osteoporosis Be Diagnosed From X-Ray?

[bfit]

A relative broke a bone in her hand/wrist, and an orthopedist told her that based on the x-ray she has osteoporosis because her bones "don't look very dense on the x-ray". This was just a regular x-ray used to see the fracture. I told her that I didn't think that you could see osteoporosis on an x-ray and that she should ask her doctor about a bone scan, but she's convinced that she has osteoporosis. Does anyone have any experience or information?

[rhbrand]

You can see what is probably osteoporosis on x-ray after quite a bit of bone loss has already occurred.

No x-ray isn't the gold standard in diagnosing osteoporosis, cause you do have to already have quite a bit of bone loss to see it on x-ray. But once you lose enough bone mass to show up on x-ray, you can probably say osteoporosis is a probability.

[Carol K]

I'm a medical coder and I code the charts from all types of radiological exams. Bone loss is a frequent finding, although it's never documented as osteoporosis unless it's a bone density exam. But certainly the result of an x-ray can indicate that a bone density exam is needed.

[summer breeze]

When I broke my ankle a year ago June I had several x-rays of course. At the time, my orthopedist said she didn't think I had osteoporosis from looking at those x-rays of my ankle. I did go for a dexa scan last fall and it showed a slight osteopenia in my left hip but the other points were in normal range. So I would agree with the previous posters who said unless there's a lot of bone mass loss you can't know. I would advise a dexa scan.

[Pat58]

When I had my ankle x-rayed due to a sprain the radiology report suggested following up with a DEXA due to observed bone loss.

[killoffsonny]

I had x rays of my feet a few years back. The doctor said I had very strong bones in my feet. Wanted to know if I took calcium. No.

Then a few years later I had a dexa and it showed osteoporosis. Spine and hip. So that tell me that its not sytemic. I have taken some pretty hard falls and landed on my wrist and never fractured.

[ealakey]

I read a few years ago that the Dexa ranges for bone loss originated from a European study of a woman who is about 5 1/2 feet tall. I wish I could find that study. Anyway, for someone who is very tall or very short, the results may be skewed. I have some demineralization from mild hypophosphatasia so the scans aren't that helpful for my situation. While thin and appearing to be osteoporosis, my bones are quite strong. When unsure, following up with a metabolic bone specialist can be very comforting.