Quantitative CT Evaluation of Bone Mineral Density in the Thoracic Spine on 18F-Fluorocholine PET/CT Imaging in Patients With Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Abstract

Introduction: Measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) with quantitative CT (QCT) carries several advantages over other densitometric techniques, including superior assessment of the spine. As most QCT studies evaluated the lumbar spine, measurements of the thoracic spine are limited. We performed QCT analysis of the thoracic spine in a cohort of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism.

Materials and methods: This study was a retrospective QCT analysis of the thoracic spine on ¹⁸F-fluorocholine PET/CT scans in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism patients between March 2018 and December 2022. Correlations between QCT-derived BMD or Hounsfield units (HU) and demographic data, laboratory parameters, results from histopathological examination after parathyroidectomy and results of DXA imaging were analyzed, when available.

Results: In 189 patients, mean QCT-derived BMD at the thoracic spine was 85.6 mg/cm³. Results from recent DXA were available in 122 patients. Mean thoracic QCT-derived BMD and HU were significantly correlated with DXA-derived BMD in lumbar spine, total hip and femoral neck and with the lowest T-score at DXA imaging. Only weak correlations were found with BMI or ¹⁸F-fluorocholine uptake, while no significant correlations were found with adenoma weight, PTH or calcium levels.

Conclusion: Our study confirms correlation between QCT-derived BMD in the thoracic spine with age and DXA-derived BMD measurements within a population of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. Establishment of reference BMD values for individual thoracic vertebrae, may allow direct osteoporosis classification on thoracic CT imaging.

Keywords: Bone mineral density; Computed tomography; Dual X-ray absorptiometry; Primary hyperparathyroidism.