Applicability of quantitative ultrasonography of the radius and tibia in HIV-infected children and adolescents

Objective: To assess applicability of quantitative ultrasonography (QUS) for bone health assessment in HIV-infected youths. Methods: QUS measurements of the radius and tibia and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements of the lumbar spine and whole skeleton were obtained in 88 HIV-infected children and adolescents (aged 4.8-22.1 years, 43 boys and 45 girls). Results: Radius speed of sound was significantly associated to lumbar spine and total body DXA measurements (R values from 0.57 to 0.60), after correction for differences in sex and anthropometry. Similarly, speed of sound of the tibia was associated to all DXA measurements (R from 0.58 to 0.66). The z scores calculated for lumbar spine DXA measurements were significantly lower (P < 0.0001) than those of QUS measurements, although no differences were observed between QUS and total body z scores. Conclusions: Our study shows that QUS of the peripheral skeleton is related to DXA. The ability to detect low values is similar to that of total body DXA. Our data suggest that QUS may be an additional diagnostic tool for the study of bone mass in HIV-infected youths.