Accuracy doubtful due to fusion hardware?

[Jeaniem130]

L5/S1 hardware new since last dexa scan. The tech did ask for an opinion from a co-worker as she felt the imaging was being distorted due to the hardware, but was told it would not impact the readings. take hrt, d3/k2 and am active! Any thoughts?

[Met00]

They scan L1-L4, so in theory hardware at L5/S1 would not be included in the scan. However, if the technician felt the scan was distorted, surely she should have either excluded the affected vertebrae, or at the very least reported that the spine results may not be reliable! I would certainly question them, in particular that you've gained density at your hip but apparently lost so much in your spine. Are you able to get a private REMS scan for second opinion and more reliable results? It isn't officially recognised by the NHS, but growing numbers of doctors are accepting it, and it would give you a measure of bone strength as well as bone density.

[Jeaniem130 in reply to Met00]

Thanks for your imput. I am in the US and have only found one source for Rems that is hoping to start scheduling people in the next few months. Also new since my last scan is mild thoracic scoliosis, it only showed on an xray this past year. I have read that should not affect score?

[Met00 in reply to Jeaniem130]

Scoliosis may cause DEXA spinal measurements to be inaccurate, but not REMS. I understand it's possible, but difficult, to line the spine up properly for a DEXA scan if there's scoliosis.

[Jeaniem130 in reply to Met00]

Thank you. I am hoping since it is mild thoracic scoliosis it did not impact my score. The Dr. mentioned a parathyroid test if my scores worsened while taking AA, but I only took the AA for a couple of months, so I am not sure if she will still want to test. I just had blood work and calcium levels were normal, just a slightly off A/G level. It will be at least a week before I hear more from the Dr. I also just found info that states the laminectemy and foraminotomy I had may also skew results.