Development of a Research Agenda for Skeletal Intervention: Proceedings from a Multidisciplinary Consensus Panel

摘要

It has been estimated that by 2030, nearly 20% of the U.S. population will be 65 years of age or older, and, as a result, medical and public attention will gravitate toward the diseases affecting the older population and the minimally invasive procedures that can be used to treat them (1). Osteoporosis is a serious public health threat for an estimated 44 million Americans, or 55% of the people aged 50 years and older (2). Osteoporosis, a debilitating disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, can lead to bone fragility and an increased susceptibility to fractures (3). In the United States, 10 million individuals are estimated to already have the disease and almost 34 million more are estimated to have low bone mass, placing them at increasedrisk for osteoporosis (4). Most of the annual 1.5 million osteoporosis-related fractures are located in the spinal region, including about 700,000 vertebral fractures (5-9).