Summary of the International Society For Clinical Densitometry 2005 Position Development Conference.

THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) periodically convenes a Position Development Conference (PDC) for the purpose of making recommendations on quality control, acquisition, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of bone densitometry. Questions regarding relevant topics are assigned to subcommittees for a comprehensive medical literature review and presentation of a report to an international panel of experts. The expert panelists for the most recent PDC, held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in July 2005, included representatives of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) and the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). Recommendations of the panel that are approved by the ISCD Board of Directors become Official Positions of the ISCD. The ISCD Official Positions are endorsed by the ASBMR and IOF. The methodology and highlights of the ISCD Official Positions are summarized here and may be found at www.iscd.org. The Official Positions provide a reference for bone densitometry clinicians and technologists for quality control, acquisition, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of BMD tests. The rationale for establishing the ISCD Official Positions is based on the evolving nature of the field of bone densitometry and the clinical importance of uniformity in BMD performance and reporting. New Official Positions are considered, and previous Official Positions are reevaluated every 2 yr at the ISCD PDC. Prior PDCs addressed issues including indications for BMD testing, selection of reference databases, precision assessment, and nomenclature. This report describes the proceedings of this PDC and contains example Positions resulting from the conference. Official Positions of the ISCD represent an ongoing process to optimize the quality and clinical use of BMD testing. It is recognized that many of the Official Positions are associated with limited supporting medical evidence, and in fact, the need for uniformity in BMD testing methods in the setting of insufficient medical evidence is often the very reason for considering a topic at the PDC. The Official Positions serve to focus the attention of the scientific community on issues that may warrant further study. Publications of the ISCD Official Positions include recommendations for research that may serve to resolve areas of uncertainty and/or controversy. The ISCD welcomes and encourages participation of experts in the field of skeletal health assessment in selecting new topics for consideration and updating current Official Positions as appropriate.