• Xingxiao Pu, Chengkui Geng, Weiping Xiao, Shao Gu, Daxing Wang, Chengwei Liu, Haifeng Li, and Bailian Liu.
• Department of Orthopedics, Yan'an Hospital Affiliated to Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650051, Yunnan, P.R. China.
• Eur Spine J. 2024 Oct 30.

PurposeThe study aims to investigate the correlations between the T score, Hounsfield units (HU) value, and vertebral bone quality (VBQ) score, and to compare their discrimination capability for patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF).MethodsOne hundred and sixty-three eligible participants were enrolled (49 OVCF group,114 non-OVCF group). The T score, HU value, and VBQ score were collected retrospectively. Then, those three parameters were compared between the OVCF and non-OVCF groups and the correlations among the three were assessed. Finally, the discrimination capability of those parameters was compared by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.ResultsThe OVCF group showed a lower T score, lower HU value, and higher VBQ score (all P < 0.001) than the non-OVCF group. Correlations were observed among the T score, HU value, and VBQ score (all P < 0.001, HU VS. mean T score, r = 0.66; HU VS. minimum T score, r = 0.67; VBQ VS. mean/ minimum T score, r=-0.33; VBQ VS. HU, r=-0.45). The HU value indicated the maximum area under curve (AUC), followed by the VBQ score and then the T score. Moreover, the AUC of combining the VBQ score and the HU value was similar to that of the HU value.ConclusionsBoth the HU value and the VBQ score had superior discrimination capability for patients with OVCF compared to the T score, especially for the HU value. For patients with routinely performed lumbar MRI or CT scans, the HU value or the VBQ score may provide alternative options for assessing the bone condition.© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

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