Skip to main content
Log in

Relationships between bone structure in the iliac crest and bone structure and strength in the lumbar spine

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Osteoporosis International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between histomorphometric variables of cancellous bone structure and ultimate compressive strength (UCS) in the second lumbar vertebra (L2) and to determine whether structural variables in the iliac crest are predictive of the same variables and of UCS in L2. At autopsy, 7.5 mm diameter cores were removed from the iliac crest and from L2 of 29 subjects who had died suddenly without bone disease. Cancellous bone volume (BV/TV, %) was significantly lower in L2 than in iliac crest due to lower trabecular number (Tb.N, per mm) and thickness (Tb.Th, µm). There were significant correlations between iliac crest and L2 for BV/TV, Tb.N and trabecular separation (Tb.Sp, µm), but not for Tb.Th. BV/TV was negatively correlated, and Tb.Sp was positively correlated with age at both sites. Tb.Th was not significantly correlated with age in the iliac crest, but a significant negative correlation was observed in L2. The UCS of vertebral cores was negatively correlated with age. BV/TV and Tb.Th in L2 were positively correlated with UCS in L2. Cortical width and BV/TV in iliac crest were positively correlated with UCS in L2. We conclude that: (1) cancellous bone volume in the iliac crest is higher than in the lumbar spine due to thicker, more closely spaced trabecular plates, (2) the changes in structural variables with age are generally similar in the iliac crest and lumbar vertebra, but trabecular thinning with age is more evident in the spine than in the ilium, and (3) the compressive strength of cancellous bone in the lumbar spine is correlated with histomorphometric variables of bone structure, as measured both in the lumbar spine and in the iliac crest.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Dempster DW. Relationship between the iliac crest bone biopsy and other skeletal sites. In: Kleerekoper M, Krane SM, editors. Clinical disorders of bone and mineral metabolism. New York: Mary Ann Liebert, 1989;247.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Kleerekoper M, Villanueva AR, Stanciu J, Sudhaker Rao D, Parfitt AM. The role of three-dimensional trabecular microstructure in pathogenesis of vertebral compression fractures. Calcif Tissue Int 1985;37:594–7.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Mosekilde Li, Mosekilde Le, Danielsen CC. Biomechanical competence of vertebral trabecular bone in relation to ash density and age in normal individuals. Bone 1987;8:79–85.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Recker RR. Low bone mass may not be the only cause of skeletal fragility in osteoporosis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1989;191:272–4.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Mosekilde Li, Mosekilde Le. Iliac crest trabecular bone volume as predictor for vertebral compression strength, ash density and trabecular bone volume in normal individuals. Bone 1988;9:195–9.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Wahner HW, Dunn WL, Mazess RB, Towsley M, Lindsay R, Markhard L, Dempster D. Dual photon153Gd absorptiometry of bone. Radiology 1985;156:203–6.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Parfitt AM, Mathews CHE, Villanueva AR, Kleerekoper M, Frame B, Rao DS. Relationships between surface, volume and thickness of iliac trabecular bone in aging and in osteoporosis: implications for the microanatomic and cellular mechanisms of bone loss. J Clin Invest 1983;72:1396–1409.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Parisien MV, McMahon D, Pushparaj N, Dempster DW. Trabecular architecture in iliac crest bone biopsies: intra-individual variability in structural parameters and changes with age. Bone 1988;9:289–95.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Parisien M, Silverberg SJ, Shane E, De La Cruz L, Lindsay R, Bilezikian J, Dempster DW. The histomorphometry of bone in primary hyperparathyroidism: preservation of cancellous bone structure. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1990;70:930–8.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Melsen F, Viidik A, Melsen B, Mosekilde L. Some relations between bone strength, ash weight and histomorphometry. In: Meunier PJ, editor. Bone histomorphometry: second international workshop. Tolouse: Société de la Nouvelle Imprimerie Fournié, 1977:89.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Meunier PJ, Courpron P. Iliac trabecular bone volume in 236 controls: representativeness of iliac samples. In: Jaworski ZFG, editor. Proceedings of the first workshop on bone morphometry. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1976:100–5.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Krempien B, Lemminger F-M, Ritz E, Weber E. The reaction of different skeletal sites to metabolic bone disease: a micromorphometric study. Klin Wochenschr 1978;56:755–9.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Podenphant J, Gotfredsen A, Nilas L, Nogaard H, Braendstrup O. Iliac crest biopsy: representativity for the amount of mineralized bone. Bone 1986;7:427–30.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Hansson T, Roos B, Nachemson A. The bone mineral content and ultimate compressive strength of lumbar vertebrae. Spine 1980;5:46–55.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Oyster N, Smith FW. A postmortem correlation of four techniques of assessment of osteoporosis with force of bone compression. Calcif Tissue Int 1988;43:77–82.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Eriksson SAV, Isberg BO, Lindgren JU. Prediction of vertebral strength by dual photon absorptiometry and quantitative computed tomography. Calcif Tissue Int 1989;44:243–50

    Google Scholar 

  17. Vesterby A. Star volume of marrow space and trabeculae in iliac crest: sampling procedure and correlation to star volume of first lumbar vertebra. Bone 1990; 11:149–55.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Vost A. Osteoporosis: a necropsy study of vertebrae and iliac crests. Am J Pathol 1963;43:143–51.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Bell GH, Dunbar O, Beck JS, Gibb A. Variations in strength of vertebrae with age and their relation to osteoporosis. Calcif Tissue Res 1967;1:75–86.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Cosman FC, Schnitzer M, McCann PD, Parisien M, Dempster D, Lindsay R. Relationships between quantitative histological measurements and non-invasive assessments of bone mass. Bone 1992;13:237–42.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Vesterby A, Mosekilde Li, Gundersen HJG, Melsen F, Mosekilde Le, Holme K, Sorensen S. Biologically meaningful determinants of the in vitro strength of lumbar vertebrae. Bone 1991;12:219–24.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Arnold JS, Bartley MH, Tont SA, Jenkins DP. Skeletal changes in aging and disease. Clin Orthop Rel Res 1966;49:17–38.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Wakamatsu E, Sissons HA. The cancellous bone of the iliac crest. Calcif Tissue Res 1969;4:147–161.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Merz WA, Schenk RK. Quantitative structural analysis of human cancellous bone. Acta Anat 1970;75:54–66.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Weinstein RS, Hutson MS. Decreased trabecular width and increased trabecular spacing contribute to bone loss with aging. Bone 1987;8:137–42.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Aaron JE, Makins NB, Sagreiya K. The microanatomy of trabecular bone loss in normal aging men and women. Clin Orthop Rel Res 1987;215:260–71.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Mellish RWE, Garrahan NJ, Compston JE, Age-related changes in trabecular width and spacing in human iliac crest biopsies. Bone Miner 1989;6:331–8.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Arnold JS, Wei CT. Quantitative morphology of vertebral trabecular bone. In: Stover B, Jee WSS, editors. Radiobiology of plutonium. Salt Lake City: JW Press, 1972: 333–54.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Preteux F, Bergot C, Laval-Jeantet AM. Automatic quantification of vertebral cancellous bone remodeling during aging. Anat Clin 1985;7:203–8.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Mosekilde Li. Age-related changes in vertebral trabecular bone architecture assessed by a new method. Bone 1988;9:247–50.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Jensen KS, Mosekilde Li, Mosekilde Le. A model of vertebral trabecular bone architecture and its mechanical properties. Bone 1990;11:417–23.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Vesterby A, Gundersen HJG, Melsen F. Star volume of marrow space and trabeculae of the first lumbar vertebrae: sampling efficiency and biological variation. Bone 1989;10:7–13.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Garrahan NJ, Mellish RWE, Compston JE. A new method for the two-dimensional analysis of bone structure in human iliac crest bone biopsies. J Microsc 1986;142:341–9.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Mellish RWE, Ferguson-Pell MW, Cochran GVB, Lindsay R, Dempster DW. A new manual method of assessing two-dimensional cancellous bone structure: comparison between iliac crest and lumbar vertebra. J Bone Miner Res 1991;6:689–96.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Feldkamp LA, Goldstein SA, Parfitt AM, Jesion J, Kleerekoper M. The direct examination of three-dimensional bone architecture in vitro by computed tomography. J Bone Miner Res 1989;4:3–11.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dempster, D.W., Ferguson-Pell, M.W., Mellish, R.W.E. et al. Relationships between bone structure in the iliac crest and bone structure and strength in the lumbar spine. Osteoporosis Int 3, 90–96 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01623379

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01623379

Keywords

Navigation