Looser's zone
Last reviewed 01/2018
This is a pseudofracture seen in osteomalacia. On x-ray, it appears as a thin, translucent band, about 2 mm in width, which runs perpendicular to the surface of the bone extending from the cortex inwards.
Looser's zones are incomplete stress fractures which heal with callus lacking in calcium, and are most readily seen in the pubic rami, the necks of the humeri and femora and at the axillary edge of the scapulae.