Microradiography and microcomputed tomography comparative analysis in human bone cores harvested after maxillary sinus augmentation: a pilot study

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare microradiography (MR) and microcomputed tomography (lCT) analysis of bone samples following maxillary sinus augmentation at different time periods and determine the relationships between measured area and volume fractions. Materials and methods: Lateral window sinus grafts were performed on 10 patients using a mineralized human bone allograft (MHBA). At implant placement, 5–13 months after surgery, 10 bone core biopsies were harvested. Prior to histologic sectioning, bone samples were evaluated with lCT. The morphometric parameters computed by MR and lCT were compared using Pearson’s correlation and Bland and Altman analysis and included hard tissue fraction (HV/TV:%), soft tissue fraction (SV/TV:%), vital bone fraction (BV/TV:%) and residual graft fraction (GV/TV:%). Results: Strong positive correlation between MR and lCT was found for HV/TV and SV/TV and BV/TV [r = 0.84, 0.84 and 0.69, respectively] but weak for GV/TV [r = 0.10]. Conclusion: lCT technology shows promising potential as an indicator of bone morphology changes; however, caution should be used in interpreting morphometric parameters, as the different methods reveal important biases.