Synopsis
Bone Densitometry in Growing Patients: Guidelines for Clinical Practice, edited by Drs. Sawyer, Bachrach, and Fung, is a milestone book for all health prof- sionals concerned with bone health in growing patients. The book introduces and emphasizes the importance of attending to issues of bone health and development in childhood and adolescence as a way of maintaining such health and decreasing the epidemic of osteoporosis that we are now seeing in older adults. In doing so, the book offers a much-needed first set of standards of bone densitometry in growing patients. Given the numerous reports of serious interpretation errors in densitometry results in children, the development of this body of work is truly important. It is in this context that Bone Densitometry in Growing Patients: Guidelines for Clinical Practice presents the current evidence, including an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in the data on assessing bone density in childhood and adolescence. In short, the editors and authors have done an outstanding job of or- nizing not only the key topics in this broad clinical discussion, but also, and most importantly, the evidence within these areas.
From the Back Cover
Bone Densitometry in Growing Patients is the first resource available for expert opinion on the use of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for evaluating bone density in children and adolescents. Written by internationally recognized pediatric bone researchers and clinicians, this volume is unique in its specific attention to the myriad challenges of measuring and evaluating bone density in the pediatric patient. There is sufficient technical detail presented in this volume to enable the establishment of a pediatric DXA center or the proper utilization of DXA scan information in current clinical practice.
The volume opens with a brief introduction to general concepts relating to bone health in children and an overview of all currently available densitometry techniques used in evaluating children. Subsequent chapters focus on indications for DXA studies in children and the optimal methods for acquiring, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting these scans. Current and future research applications of DXA and other modalities for studying pediatric bone health are also discussed. An extensive appendix provides useful pediatric reference data, sample forms for use in acquiring and reporting DXA data, listings of useful and relevant pediatric bone websites, and a comprehensive bibliography. This volume, which is the first pediatric DXA reference published, optimizes the accurate and responsible use of DXA in children as a tool in the clinical management of bone fragility, and thereby paves the way for the future development of appropriate intervention and treatment programs for this population.
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