Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Detection Of Aortic Calcification During Vertebral Fracture Assessment (Vfa) Compared To Digital Radiography, John T. Schousboe, Kevin E. Wilson, Thomas N. Hangartner

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of mortality among post-menopausal women. Our objective was to determine whether or not lateral spine images obtained on a bone densitometer to detect prevalent vertebral fracture can also accurately detect radiographic abdominal aortic calcification (AAC), an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease independent of clinical risk factors.

Methodology/Principal Findings: One hundred seventy four postmenopausal women had bone densitometry, lateral spine densitometry imaging (called vertebral fracture assessment, or VFA), and lateral spine digital radiographs. Radiographs and VFA images were scored for AAC using a previously validated 24 point scale and a simplified, …