Background:

Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory condition which commonly affects the elderly. Risk of fracture is higher in this group of patients compared to the general population and can lead to increased morbidity and mortality (1). Hip structural analysis (HSA) is a technique that uses dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) images to assess hip bone structure (2).
Objectives:

To identify whether HSA measurements help predict fracture in patients with PMR.
Methods:

Data were collected from June 2004 to October 2010 from PMR patients who had a DEXA scan at a District General Hospital. This included hip axis length (HAL), cross-sectional area (CSA), cross-sectional moment of inertia (CSMI), distance from centre of femoral head to centre of femoral neck (D1) and to inter-trochanteric line (D2), mean femoral neck diameter (D3), shaft angle (A) neck/shaft angle (Θ) and proximal femur strength