Age Related Changes in Height and Shape of the Lumbar İntervertebral Discus

İsmail Malkoc 1, Sener Atif Aydinlioglu 2, Fatih Alper 3, Fatih Kaciroglu 1, Yasemin Yuksel 4, Ramazan Yuksel 5 * , Senol Dane 5, Muhsin Toktas 6
More Detail
1 Department of Anatomy, Medical School, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey
2 Department of Anatomy, Medical School, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey
3 Department of Radiology, Medical School, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey
4 Department of Histology and Embryology, Medical School, Fatih University, Ankara, Turkey
5 Department of Physiology, Medical School, Fatih University, Ankara, Turkey
6 Department of Anatomy, Medical School, Fatih University, Ankara, Turkey
* Corresponding Author
EUR J BASIC MED SCI, Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 68-73. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejbms/9182
OPEN ACCESS
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

There was no agreement on intervertebral disc changes by age in human lumbar spine in the previous studies. The present study aimed the re-examination of the possible changes in intervertebral lumbar discs by age in healthy subjects. Normal lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were obtained from 171 individuals (84 men, 87 women; 12–80 years old). The anterior and posterior heights and the depths of the intervertebral discs at each level of the lumbar spine were measured. The gender and age-related changes were not significant for heights. The depths of the intervertebral discs changed with age significantly in both sexes. The average disc height and shape index increased with age significantly in some disks individually. The disk depths showed only gender difference. The present study did not find clear increases in all dimensions and the shape of the discs of both sexes with age and differed from the previous studies. Our findings needed to be confirmed by the further MRI studies.
Keywords: lumbar intervertebral disc, disc height, disc shape

CITATION

Malkoc İ, Aydinlioglu SA, Alper F, Kaciroglu F, Yuksel Y, Yuksel R, et al. Age Related Changes in Height and Shape of the Lumbar İntervertebral Discus. Eur J Basic Med Sci. 2012;2(3):68-73. https://doi.org/10.21601/ejbms/9182

REFERENCES

  • Amonoo-Kuofi HS. Morphometric changes in the heights and anteroposterior diameters of the lumbar intervertebral discs with age. J Anat 1991; 175:159-68.
  • Aydinlioglu A, Diyarbakirli S, Keles P. Heights of the lumbar intervertebral discs related to age in Turkish individuals. Tohoku J Exp Med 1999; 188:11-22.
  • Oda J, Tanaka H, Tsuzuki N. Intervertebral disc changes with ageing of human cervical vertebra from the neonate to the eighties. Spine 1988; 13:1205-13.
  • Twomey LT, Taylor JR. Age changes in lumbar vertebrae and intervertebral discs. Clin Orthop Relat Res 1987; 224:97-104.
  • Vernon-Roberts B, Pirie CJ. Degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs of the lumbar spine and their sequelae. Rheumatol Rehab 1977; 16:13-21.
  • Sevinc O, Barut C, Is M, Eryoruk N, Safak A. Influence of age and sex on lumbar vertebral morphometry determined using sagittal magnetic resonance imaging. Ann Anat 2008; 190:277-83.
  • Kuh SU, Heo DH, Kim KS, Cho YJ. Lumbar epidural gascontaining pseudocysts as a cause of severe radicular pain. Joint Bone Spine 2011;78(4):398-401.
  • Lee DY, Lee S. L2 radicular compression caused by a foraminal extradural gas pseudocyst. J Korean Neurosurg Soc 2010; 47: 232-4.
  • Taylor JR. Growth of the human intervertebral disc and vertebral bodies. J Anat 1975; 120:49-68.
  • Porter RW, Adams MA, Hutton WC. Physical activity and the strength of the lumbar spine. Spine 1989; 14:201-3.
  • Cole MH, Grimshaw PN. Low back pain and lifting: A review of epidemiology and aetiology. Work 2003; 21:173-84.
  • Hupli M, Heinonen R, Vanharanta H. Height changes among chronic low back pain patients during intense physical exercise. Scand J Med Sci Sports 1997; 7:32-7.
  • White AA, Gordon SL. Synopsis: Workshop on Idiopathic low back pain. Spine 1982; 7:141-9.