Comparison of quantitative CT parameters acquired via the CT spine bone quantification system between L1 cortical and cancellous bone for predicting severity in male patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a retrospective study

Until present, data on the association between cortical bone changes in osteoporosis and severity of the condition of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are lacking. This study aims to explore and compare the value of quantitative parameters of cortical and cancellous bone in the first lumbar vertebrae (L1) based on CT spinal bone quantification system for predicting the severity of COPD in males. A total of 187 male patients with COPD were enrolled as the COPD group, who were subdivided into Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) grade I, II, and III-IV groups. Forty males with normal pulmonary function were recruited as the non-COPD group. The total density and total volume of cancellous bone, the average thickness and average density of cortical bone of L1 vertebral body were obtained by the CT spine bone quantification system respectively. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to analyse the difference of parameters among the four groups. Of the 187 male COPD patients, 67 were categorized as GOLD grade I, 75 as GOLD grade II, and 45 as GOLD grade III-IV. The total density of cancellous bone, the average thickness and average density of cortical bone decreased with the increase of COPD grades and showed significant differences among the four groups(non-COPD, GOLD grade Ⅰ, GOLD grade Ⅱ and GOLD grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ). There was no significant difference in the total volume of cancellous bone among the four groups. The parameters derived from CT spinal bone quantification system including the total density of cancellous bone, the average thickness and average density of cortical bone can all help distinguish the severity of COPD in male patients.