Comparison of HU histogram analysis and BMD for proximal femoral fragility fracture assessment: a retrospective single-center case-control study

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate the feasibility of HU histogram analysis (HUHA) to assess proximal femoral fragility fractures with respect to BMD. Methods This retrospective study included 137 patients with femoral fragility fractures who underwent hip CT and 137 control patients without fractures who underwent abdominal CT between January 2018 and February 2019. HUHA was calculated with the 3D volume of interest from the femoral head to the lesser trochanter. HUHA(fat) (percentage of negative HU values) and HUHA(bone) (percentage of HU values >= 125 HU) were assumed to be fat and bone components, respectively. Statistical significance was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), Spearman correlation (rho), and odds ratio. Results HUHA(fat) was strongly positively correlated (rho = 0.56) and BMD was moderately negatively correlated with fragility fractures (rho = - 0.37). AUC of HUHA(fat) (0.82, 95% CI [0.77, 0.87]) significantly differed from that of BMD (0.69, 95% CI [0.63, 0.75]) (p < .001). The cutoff value was 15.8% for HUHA(fat) (sensitivity: 90.4%; specificity: 67.7%) and 0.709 g/cm(2) for BMD (sensitivity: 87.5%; specificity: 51.5%), with higher HUHA(fat) and lower BMD values indicating fragility fractures. The odds ratio of HUHA(fat) was 19.5 (95% CI [9.9, 38.2], p < .001), which was higher than that of BMD, 7.4 (95% CI [4.0, 13.6], p < .001). Conclusion HUHA(fat) revealed better performance than BMD and demonstrated feasibility in assessing proximal femoral fragility fractures.