"Doctors can use a patients abdominal CT scans to also check for signs of the boneweakening disease osteoporosis according to a new study.  The researchers who published their findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday compared patients CT scans to their dualenergy Xray absorptiometry DXA which is traditionally used to diagnose osteoporosis.  What we found is that there is pretty good correlation said the studys lead author Dr. Perry Pickhardt professor of radiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.  The idea say the researchers is doctors can use patients CT scans that are ordered for another reason  such as looking for tumors  to also check for signs of osteoporosis. That may spare the patients from additional testing and additional costs.  In an editorial accompanying the study however experts wrote that using CT scans to gauge bone density could lead to some people being incorrectly diagnosed particularly if people at low risk are tested.  In this study the average age was about  years old  six years younger than the age at which the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force a governmentbacked panel recommends all women begin being screened for osteoporosis. The disease affects over  million Americans over .  The panel also suggests younger women at an increased risk for bone fractures should be screened but theres no recommendation for men of any age.  Despite DXA scans being safe and cost effective Pickhardt and his colleagues say the test is underused. CT scans however are considered overused  with more than  million performed in the U.S. during .  INCIDENTALOPOROSIS  For the new study the researchers analyzed test results from  patients who had both types of scans performed within six months of each other over a year period to see if their CT scans showed osteoporosis as well as the DXAs.  Overall about  percent of the people were diagnosed with osteoporosis about  percent were diagnosed with some boneweakening and about  percent were healthy based on their DXAs.  Sponsored The researchers then found that their ability to accurately diagnose those same patients with osteoporosis from a CT scan depended on what threshold for bone density they used.  Dr. Sumit Majumdar who wrote an editorial accompanying the new study said a lower threshold for bone density would catch most cases of osteoporosis and limit incidentaloporosis  incorrect osteoporosis diagnoses discovered while doctors were looking for something else.  At the lower threshold the researchers found  percent of those diagnosed with osteoporosis were misdiagnosed.  Pickhardt said the screenings would have to target the right groups of people to prevent overdiagnosis.  Obviously its something we need to worry about but if you apply it to a population thats suitable for diagnosis you wouldnt run that risk he said.  CT v. DXA  Majumdar a professor of medicine at the University of Alberta in Canada said CT scans are better tests but stomach scans dont include the hip  like a DXA would.  A DXA can cost a couple hundred dollars while a CT scan can cost about . Both involve radiation.  ADVERTISING Dr. Beatrice Hull from the Center for Osteoporosis and Bone Health at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston told Reuters Health that shed want her patients to have a DXA scan even with a diagnosis from a CT scan.  I dont think at this point this one test is going to prevent further testing. I think it will identify patients who are at a higher risk and need more testing said Hull who wasnt involved with the new research.  SOURCE bit.lyZwiu httpbit.lyZwiu Annals of Internal Medicine online April  . Our StandardsThe Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. httpthomsonreuters.comenaboutustrustprinciples.html"