Proportion of human vertebral body bone that is cancellous

The concept that vertebral fractures are caused by excessive loss of cancellous bone has been challenged by a recent study (J Bone Min Res 2:221, 1987) suggesting that vertebral bodies are composed mainly of cortical bone rather than cancellous bone. To resolve disagreement we used two independent methods to quantify the proportions of cortical and cancellous bone in 400 μm thick sections of the bodies of the second lumbar vertebrae from six men...