Determination of radial bone mineral content in low birth weight infants by photon absorptiometry

Studies at the University of Wisconsin have demonstrated that photon absorptiometry is a precise, accurate, and reproducible technique for measuring bone mineral content in premature infants and can be used to establish an “intrauterine” curve of bone mineralization in the fetus. Photon absorptiometry can also be used to measure bone width, thereby documenting appositional bone growth. The bone mineral content/bone width ratio may be helpful in identifying disorders of bone mineral metabolism in premature infants. The technique has been used to demonstrate that relatively poor bone mineralization (compared with the intrauterine curve) occurs in very low birth weight infants after birth, regardless of the type of feeding or the presence or absence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.