Comparison of the quantitative ultrasound bone measurements between Shanghai and Caucasian infants at birth / 中华围产医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare the bone status between Shanghai and Caucasian infants at birth by quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and evaluate its clinical application. Methods An ultrasound bone sonometer, Omnisense (Sunlight Medical Ltd, Israel), was used to measure the bone speed of sound (SOS) of tibia in 157 Shanghai infants, and then compared with those of Caucasian. Results No significant difference of SOS was found between male [n=88, (2968?115) m/s] and female infants [n = 69, (2956?105) m/s](P=0. 524). The SOS of premature infants [(2935?96) m/s] was lower than that of full-term infants [2984?116) m/s] (P = 0. 005). Comparing with Caucasian infants, the tibial SOS was lower in Shanghai infants. The differences of SOS, which were defined as Z-Score, in Shanghai infants were more remarkable in female infants (-0. 81?0.92 Z-Score) than that of male (-0. 55?0. 97 Z-Score), and in full-term infants ( -0. 80?1. 03 Z-Score)than in premature infants (-0. 50?0. 83 Z-Score) , and in infants with normal birth weight than in infants with lower birth weight. Conclusions QUS is suitable for evaluating bone status in infants. Shanghai infants have lower bone strength than Caucasian's and the difference becomes more significant in the last trimester.