European hospitals add osteoporosis to mammography workflow

May 14, 2013 - There are an estimated 200 million people who suffer from osteoporosis, according to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, yet osteoporosis remains a heavily under-diagnosed disease. However, clinics in France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom have introduced a service into their mammography workflow protocols to also screen for osteoporosis.

The OneScreen online service from Sectra is designed to identify patients at high risk of fracture in order to initiate preventive care. After the 4 breast images included in the mammography examination are completed, an image of the hand is acquired using the same radiology equipment. Since the woman is already standing by the modality, this adds no more than 30 seconds to the examination time. With the standard X-ray image of the hand, the women’s bone health or bone mineral density (BMD) is analyzed using Sectra’s online service.

“The ability to conduct screening to identify osteoporosis at the same time as mammography will mean that many women with bone fragility can be detected earlier and thus be provided with optimal bone health care for the future,” said Dr. Lévy-Weil, head of the Rheumatology department at Centre Hospitalier d’Argenteuil. “It represents a real advantage in the global prevention of osteoporosis in women over 50 years old.”

For more information:  www.iofbonehealth.org, www.sectra.com, www.ch-argenteuil.com, and www.appliedradiology.com