Longitudinal changes in bone mineral density, bone mineral content and bone area at the lumbar spine and hip in postmenopausal women, and the influence of abdominal aortic calcification

Longitudinal studies often report that spine bone mineral density (BMD), measured by DXA, is stable in older adults, which has been attributed to osteophyte development and the presence of aortic calcification. A decline in projected spine area as a result of loss of intervertebral disc height might also contribute to higher BMD. We utilised data from 297 postmenopausal women (mean 73 years) who had DXA measurements of the lumbar spine, total hip and femoral neck 5 years apart, and abdominal aortic calcification scoring from vertebral morphometry. BMD declined by −4.4% at the total hip and −3.9% at the femoral neck (p < 0.001), but did not change at the spine (−0.5%, p = 0.12). In contrast, bone mineral content (BMC) declined by −4.0% at the total hip, −2.5% at the femoral neck and −1.7% at the spine (all p < 0.001). Bone area increased by 0.5% at the hip and 1.6% at the femoral neck but declined by −1.2% at the spine (all p < 0.001). 43% of the cohort had abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) present at baseline. The presence of AAC at baseline was not related to changes in BMD or BMC at the total hip or femoral neck, nor to BMD at the spine. However, women with AAC present had a smaller loss of BMC at the spine than those without (−0.8% versus −2.4%, p = 0.03). AAC score increased more over 5 years among those with AAC at baseline than those without (0.28 versus 0.16, p = 0.036). Thus, the stability of spine BMD is the result of both a loss of projected bone area (as a result of intervertebral disc changes and/or a decrease in projected area of the vertebral bodies) and the effects of aortic calcification. Future clinical trials should consider assessing changes in spine BMC as a more informative index of spine mineral status.