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Development of new criteria for cortical bone histomorphometry in femoral neck: intra- and inter-observer reproducibility

Tong, Xiao-Yu ; Malo, Markus ; Tamminen, Inari S. ; Isaksson, Hanna LU orcid ; Jurvelin, Jukka S. and Kroger, Heikki (2015) In Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism 33(1). p.109-118
Abstract
Histomorphometry is commonly applied to study bone remodeling. Histological definitions of cortical bone boundaries have not been consistent. In this study, new criteria for specific definition of the transitional zone between the cortical and cancellous bone in the femoral neck were developed. The intra- and inter-observer reproducibility of this method was determined by quantitative histomorphometry and areal overlapping analysis. The undecalcified histological sections of femoral neck specimens (n = 6; from men aged 17-59 years) were processed and scanned to acquire histological images of complete bone sections. Specific criteria were applied to define histological boundaries. "Absolute cortex area" consisted of pure cortical bone... (More)
Histomorphometry is commonly applied to study bone remodeling. Histological definitions of cortical bone boundaries have not been consistent. In this study, new criteria for specific definition of the transitional zone between the cortical and cancellous bone in the femoral neck were developed. The intra- and inter-observer reproducibility of this method was determined by quantitative histomorphometry and areal overlapping analysis. The undecalcified histological sections of femoral neck specimens (n = 6; from men aged 17-59 years) were processed and scanned to acquire histological images of complete bone sections. Specific criteria were applied to define histological boundaries. "Absolute cortex area" consisted of pure cortical bone tissue only, and was defined mainly based on the size of composite canals and their distance to an additional "guide" boundary (so-called "preliminary cortex boundary," the clear demarcation line of density between compact cortex and sparse trabeculae). Endocortical bone area was defined by recognizing characteristic endocortical structures adjacent to the preliminary cortical boundary. The present results suggested moderate to high reproducibility for low-magnification parameters (e.g., cortical bone area). The coefficient of variation (CV %) ranged from 0.02 to 5.61 in the intra-observer study and from 0.09 to 16.41 in the inter-observer study. However, the intra-observer reproducibility of some high-magnification parameters (e.g., osteoid perimeter/endocortical perimeter) was lower (CV %, 0.33-87.9). The overlapping of three histological areas in repeated analyses revealed highest intra- and inter-observer reproducibility for the absolute cortex area. This study provides specific criteria for the definition of histological boundaries for femoral neck bone specimens, which may aid more precise cortical bone histomorphometry. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cortical bone histomorphometry, Boundary definition, Reproducibility, Intra-observer study, Inter-observer study
in
Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism
volume
33
issue
1
pages
109 - 118
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • wos:000347407900014
  • pmid:24570270
  • scopus:84894265173
ISSN
0914-8779
DOI
10.1007/s00774-014-0562-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f7ffeef4-ab10-45cb-a8cf-50fc46da288a (old id 5076069)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:35:41
date last changed
2023-08-31 06:44:41
@article{f7ffeef4-ab10-45cb-a8cf-50fc46da288a,
  abstract     = {{Histomorphometry is commonly applied to study bone remodeling. Histological definitions of cortical bone boundaries have not been consistent. In this study, new criteria for specific definition of the transitional zone between the cortical and cancellous bone in the femoral neck were developed. The intra- and inter-observer reproducibility of this method was determined by quantitative histomorphometry and areal overlapping analysis. The undecalcified histological sections of femoral neck specimens (n = 6; from men aged 17-59 years) were processed and scanned to acquire histological images of complete bone sections. Specific criteria were applied to define histological boundaries. "Absolute cortex area" consisted of pure cortical bone tissue only, and was defined mainly based on the size of composite canals and their distance to an additional "guide" boundary (so-called "preliminary cortex boundary," the clear demarcation line of density between compact cortex and sparse trabeculae). Endocortical bone area was defined by recognizing characteristic endocortical structures adjacent to the preliminary cortical boundary. The present results suggested moderate to high reproducibility for low-magnification parameters (e.g., cortical bone area). The coefficient of variation (CV %) ranged from 0.02 to 5.61 in the intra-observer study and from 0.09 to 16.41 in the inter-observer study. However, the intra-observer reproducibility of some high-magnification parameters (e.g., osteoid perimeter/endocortical perimeter) was lower (CV %, 0.33-87.9). The overlapping of three histological areas in repeated analyses revealed highest intra- and inter-observer reproducibility for the absolute cortex area. This study provides specific criteria for the definition of histological boundaries for femoral neck bone specimens, which may aid more precise cortical bone histomorphometry.}},
  author       = {{Tong, Xiao-Yu and Malo, Markus and Tamminen, Inari S. and Isaksson, Hanna and Jurvelin, Jukka S. and Kroger, Heikki}},
  issn         = {{0914-8779}},
  keywords     = {{Cortical bone histomorphometry; Boundary definition; Reproducibility; Intra-observer study; Inter-observer study}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{109--118}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism}},
  title        = {{Development of new criteria for cortical bone histomorphometry in femoral neck: intra- and inter-observer reproducibility}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00774-014-0562-1}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00774-014-0562-1}},
  volume       = {{33}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}