Cartilage, cortical bone and spongy bone from 37 hip-surgery patients in north-western Poland were analyzed for vanadium, chromium and calcium by ICP-AES. Spongy bone chromium was higher in occupationally exposed patients and lower in patients with kidney disease; reported differences by implant status and game meat intake conflict between the abstract and the results.
Key numbers
- Chromium, all patients (n = 37), mean ± SD in mg/kg dry mass: cartilage 0.45 ± 0.33; cortical bone 0.66 ± 0.42; spongy bone 0.66 ± 0.60 (range 0.18 to 2.36) (Table 3, p. 5).
- Spongy bone, implants versus no implants (n = 8 and 29): the results text prints 0.60 and 0.87 mg/kg dm respectively (U = 59.0, p < 0.05), while the abstract states that implant patients had higher values (Results, p. 4; abstract, p. 1).
- Spongy bone, occupationally exposed 0.85 versus unexposed 0.61 mg/kg dm (n = 8 and 29) (Results, p. 4).
- Kidney disease (n = 5) 0.28 versus 0.46 mg/kg dm without kidney disease (n = 32) (Results, p. 4).
- Game meat eaters (n = 8) spongy bone 0.31 ± 0.08 versus 0.75 ± 0.64 mg/kg dm in non-eaters (n = 29), p = 0.01 (Table 4, p. 6).
Methods (brief)
Femoral heads collected at surgery, separated into cartilage, cortical and spongy bone, digested and analyzed by ICP-AES (Perkin-Elmer Optima 2000 DV) with NIST SRM 1486 bone meal and IAEA-407 fish tissue as reference materials; questionnaire on diet, smoking, occupation and implants.
Evidence fitness
Supports bone chromium concentrations in a small surgical cohort and lower values in patients with kidney disease. Implant and diet associations are internally inconsistent and rest on small groups.
Limitations
Small groups; the abstract reports higher spongy bone chromium in game meat eaters and implant patients, while Table 4 and the results text give lower values for those groups; detection limits printed in g/L.
Related evidence
Update history
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