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What is a BMD?A Bone Mineral Density (DEXA) exam is a procedure that uses radiation to measure the bone thickness and calcium content in the patient’s skeleton. It is safe, painless and highly accurate aid to physicians in the diagnosis of osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to become brittle and more likely to break. DEXA examination of the spine and femur, sites where osteoporotic fracture occurs most often, is considered the standard examination for assessment of patients considered at risk for the development of osteoporosis and for monitoring those undergoing treatment for the disease. This number is directly related to the patients fracture risk. The higher the number the lower the fracture risk.
Why did your doctor order one for you?
To detect osterpenia or osteoporosis
To determine the likelihood fracture
To determine if prescribed therapy is working
To investigate the cause of loss of height
To monitor the rate of bone loss over time
Patient Preparations: The patient should stop taking any calcium supplements the day before the exam, they can start taking them again after the exam is over.
What happens during the procedure?
A small amount of radiation is used to see the bones of patients. The picture is then analyzed with software that will compare the patients score to that of other individuals of the same age, sex and race (Z-score). A second comparison is made to a younger population of the same sex and race (T-score).
Peripheral bone densitometry examinations of the heel, finger or wrist bones provide considerably less valuable measurements. Medicare and most payers now recognize this and generally provide DEXA benefits for women post menopause.
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