Abstract

Experimentally, a fracture was generated on the neck of the femur of 77 cadavers. The relationship between bone mineral content (the Singh index was determined) and the force applied to inflict the fracture was established. A negative correlation was found between bone age and the force used to generate the fracture, whereas no correlation was revealed between the Singh index and the force used to generate the fracture. The author concludes that bone mineral content is not the only factor determining bone strength. Possibly, bone strength is also dependent on the liquid crystal properties of the type I collagen fraction.