Background Good bone quality is key in avoiding a multitude of afflictions, including
osteoporotic fragility fractures and poor outcomes after spine surgery. In patients undergoing
instrumented spine fusion, bone quality often dictates screw pullout strength, insertional
torque, and vertebral body loading properties. While dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
(DEXA) screening is the current method of assessing bone mineral density, the majority of
patients do not have DEXA measurements available before undergoing surgical …

Study Design. Retrospective comparison. Objective. The aim was to determine whether a
previously developed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived bone mineral density
(BMD) scoring system can differentiate between healthy and osteoporotic vertebrae and to
validate this scoring system against quantitative computed tomography measurements.
Summary of Background Data. BMD is an important preoperative consideration in spine
surgery. Techniques to measure BMD are subject to falsely elevated values in the setting of …