Cortical Bone Porosity: What Is It, Why Is It Important, and How Can We Detect It?

Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2016 Oct;14(5):187-98. doi: 10.1007/s11914-016-0319-y. DOI: 10.1007/s11914-016-0319-y PMID: 27623679 [PubMed – in process]

Cortical porosity is important because of its impact on bone material and mechanical properties as well as its role in the remodeling process. This review aims to provide an overview of what this level of porosity is, why it is important, and how it can be characterized by imaging. Moving beyond a ‘trabeculocentric’ view of bone loss holds the potential to improve diagnosis and monitoring of interventions. Furthermore, cortical porosity is intimately linked to the remodeling process, which underpins bone loss, and thus a larger potential exists to improve our fundamental understanding of bone health through imaging of both humans and animal models.