Longitudinal changes of the femoral bone mineral density from first to third trimester of pregnancy: bone health assessment by means of non-ionizing REMS technology

Abstract

Background

Throughout the pregnancy, there is a substantial transfer of calcium from the maternal skeleton to the fetus, which leads to a transient net reduction of the maternal bone mineral density.

Aims

To assess longitudinally the changes in the bone mineral density at the femoral neck between the first and third trimester of pregnancy in a cohort of healthy participants using Radiofrequency Echographic Multi Spectrometry (REMS) technology.

Methods

Prospective, cohort study conducted at the University hospital of Parma, Italy between July 2022 and February 2023. We recruited healthy participants with an uncomplicated singleton pregnancy before 14 completed weeks of gestation. All included participants were submitted to a sonographic examination of the femoral neck to assess the bone mineral density (and the corresponding Z-score values) using REMS at 11–13 and 36–38 weeks of pregnancy. The primary outcome was the change in the bone mineral density values at the maternal femoral neck between the first and third trimester of pregnancy.

Results

Over a period of 7 months, a total of 65 participants underwent bone mineral density measurement at the femoral neck at first and third trimester of the pregnancy using REMS. A significant reduction of the bone mineral density at the femoral neck (0.723 ± 0.069 vs 0.709 ± 0.069 g/cm ²; p < 0.001) was noted with a mean bone mineral density change of − 1.9 ± 0.6% between the first and third trimester of pregnancy. At multivariable linear regression analysis, none of the demographic or clinical variables of the study population proved to be independently associated with the maternal bone mineral density changes at the femoral neck.

Conclusions

Our study conducted on a cohort of healthy participants with uncomplicated pregnancy demonstrates that there is a significant reduction of bone mineral density at femoral neck from early to late gestation.