Bone Quantitative Ultrasound and Bone Mineral Density in Children with Celiac Disease

ABSTRACT Objectives: Osteoporosis is the most common manifestation of untreated celiac disease (CD). Bone quantitative ultrasound (QUS) has recently emerged as a new modality for bone status assessment. We evaluated bone status in children with CD using dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry and quantitative ultrasound. Methods: This cross‐sectional study included 41 children (13 girls, 28 boys) aged 11.2 ± 3.6 years with CD. All children had been diagnosed with CD for at least 1 year (mean, 5.7 ± 4.3 years). The results of lumbar spine bone mineral density assessed by dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry and the measurements of the velocity of ultrasound wave (at distal radius and midshaft tibia sites), expressed as speed of sound in m/s, were compared between children adherent to gluten‐free diet (GFD) and non‐compliant children. Results: Speed of sound z‐scores at tibia were below −2 SD in 20 of 41 children (49%), whereas lumbar spine bone mineral density z‐scores were below −2 SD in 4 of 41 (10%) children with CD (P = 0.0002). Only 19 of 41 children were strictly compliant to GFD. The prevalence of tibia speed of sound z‐scores