A New Approach for Improving the Prediction of Femoral Neck Fracture

Abstract

Femoral neck fractures are an important clinical, social, and economical issue. Much effort has been made to improve the accuracy of prediction of fracture risk. However, at present the DEXA standard clinical protocol achieves an accuracy of about 65% in retrospective studies. A new procedure for prediction was developed including not only bone mineral density but also geometric and femoral bone strength information. The retrospective clinical validation has shown an improved accuracy to 80% in classifying 200 patients. The procedure has been employed in efficient, repeatable, and easy to use software for evaluation of femoral neck fracture risk. The software characteristics make it suitable for use in daily clinical practice, providing a useful tool for the improvement of femoral neck fracture prediction.

Keywords

Femoral neck fractures Prediction Real-time software

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