Article

The mechanical characterization of trabecular bone is related to its
structure. In order to describe the trabecular structure and to study the
mechanical behavior of the trabecular tissue, several parameters are presented in
the literature. Some studies suggest a possible dependence of the structure on
bone volume fraction; this dependence could bias the validity of previous
studies. The problem increases its complexity when pathological bone such as
osteoarthritic tissue is studied, where the organization of the trabecular
structure could be different if compared to the non-pathological tissue. The
primary aim of this study was to evaluate the dependence between trabecular
structure and bone volume fraction. The secondary aim was to compare
osteoarthritic and non-pathological bone considering the correlation between
structure and bone volume fraction. METHODS: Sixty trabecular bone specimens were
extracted from femoral heads of two groups of 30 Caucasian donors; an
osteoarthritic group and a non-pathological group. Several structural parameters,
such as bone volume fraction, direct trabecular thickness, fabric tensor
eigenvalues and their normalizations, were calculated from micro-CT analysis. A
statistical analysis was carried out to identify the dependences between
structural parameters and bone volume fraction. The comparison between
osteoarthritic bone and non-pathological bone was also performed. FINDINGS: Only
the normalized eigenvalues of the fabric tensor were not correlated to bone
volume fraction (R<0.5). The first and second normalized eigenvalues were
significantly different between osteoarthritic bone and non-pathological bone
(respectively P<0.05 and P<0.001). INTERPRETATION: In conclusion, orientation and
anisotropy of the trabecular structure do not depend on bone volume fraction.
Moreover, differences in the first and second normalized fabric tensor
eigenvalues suggest in the osteoarthritic group a structure more oriented along
the main trabecular direction.
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Langue : ANGLAIS