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Meet the Professor
Nigel Loveridge
What determines hip strength
Topics to be covered
Hip fractures occur because the bone is incapable of absorbing the energy
associated with a fall. A simple lack of bone does not account for all
the risks of fracture following a fall indicating that changes in microarchitecture
principally cortical thinning and porosity are important. Cortical thickness
gets more asymmetric as people age leading to marked thinning of those
regions most loaded during a fall. Cortical porosity is localised and
occurs through a mechanism whereby remodelling is clustered either through
a failure to adequately load that part of the cortex or an inability to
sense local loads. The material properties of bone contribute to the ability
to absorb energy. Recent evidence has suggested that in cases of hip fracture
changes in mineralisation and crystallinity may occur that are, in part,
independent of bone turnover. New approaches to the assessment of fracture
risk using DXA or CT will also be addressed.
Educational goals
Understanding of the relative roles of fall dynamics, bone mass, bone
architecture and bone material properties in hip strength and how to analyse
them.
Target audience
Orthopaedics, bone physiology, pathology, biomechanics and radiology.
Teaching methods
Overhead projection and audience participation through questions and answers
and a list of relevant papers.
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