A new study suggests that a computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen and thorax taken for other purposes can be used to detect osteoporosis early.

On Friday, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) said that Professor Kim Young-june of the hospital's Department of Radiology had discovered it.

Professor Kim’s paper “Age-related decline in vertebral attenuation values in opportunistic screening of osteoporosis: A nationwide multi-center study” also won the best abstract award at the academic conference of the Korean Society of Radiology, the Korean Congress of Radiology (KCR 2024), held at COEX in Seoul from Oct. 2 to 5.

The paper reportedly won recognition for its scientific value. It found that osteoporosis can be detected early through abdominal and chest computed tomography (CT) scans taken for other purposes and presented various age-specific thresholds using large-scale Korean data.

“CT imaging contains a lot of useful additional information beyond the original purpose of imaging, but its importance has only recently been recognized,” Professor Kim said. “Further research will allow us to diagnose various diseases, including sarcopenia, atherosclerosis, and fatty liver, in addition to osteoporosis, and help improve patients’ quality of life.”