The reliability and representativity of non-dynamic bone histomorphometry in uremic osteodystrophy

In order to evaluate the reliability and representativity of iliac crest bone biopsy in uremic osteodystrophy, non-dynamic bone histomorphometry was performed post-mortem on the right and left iliac crests and the 3rd lumbar vertebra in 20 patients with chronic uremia. High (>0.8) right-left correlation coefficients were found for bone volume, osteoid volume, osteoid surface, osteoid thickness, eroded surface, osteoclast surface and aluminium labelling intensity; moderate (0.7-0.8) for trabecular thickness, and low (<0.7) for cortical thickness, porosity and aluminium bone concentration. High iliac crest-vertebra correlations were found for trabecular thickness, osteoid volume, osteoid surface, eroded surface, osteoclast surface and aluminium labelling intensity, and low correlations for bone volume, osteoid thickness and bone aluminium concentration. In conclusion, non-dynamic iliac trabecular bone indices are reliable variables and, with the possible exception of bone mass determination, indicative of systemic bone disease. Bone aluminium concentration and cortical bone indices are unreliable measures of uremic bone disease. These reservations apply to the diagnostic use of biopsy in individuals, but not necessarily its research use in groups of patients.