Boyle Jeffrey J W, Milne Nicholas, Singer Kevin P
Department of Surgery, Centre for Musculoskeletal Studies, The University of Western Australia, Royal Perth Hospital, Level 2, MRF Building, WA Medical Res. Inst. Bldg., Rear 50 Murray Street, WA 6000, Australia.
Clin Biomech (Bristol). 2002 Jun;17(5):361-7. doi: 10.1016/s0268-0033(02)00030-x.
To define the post-mortem cervicothoracic spinal curvature relative to age.
Spinal curvature assessment of lateral cervicothoracic radiographs.
A late consequence of age is the progressive accentuation of spinal curvatures, particularly the thoracic kyphosis. Little is known about the influence of the kyphosis on the alignment of the cervical spine.
One hundred and seventy two lateral spinal radiographs (113 males, 59 females) were analysed using two procedures: (1) sagittal curve deformation angles were derived, according to the method of Cobb, for thoracic (T1-T12), cervical (C2-C7) and cervicothoracic junctional regions (C6-T4); and (2) the cervicothoracic curvatures were digitised (C2-T12), to derive the apex of both curves and the inflexion point.
A significantly increasing thoracic spinal curvature was determined for both genders, with the mean apex of the kyphosis close to T6. The cervical lordosis tended to flatten with increasing age, particularly in males, with the cervical apex location shifting cranially. This association was significant in older males and females. The mean location of the cervicothoracic curve inflexion point moved from T3 towards C7-T1 with increasing age.
The cervicothoracic spinal curvature undergoes progressive change through the lifespan with a subsequent cranial migration of the inflexion point between the thoracic kyphosis and cervical lordosis, accompanied by a similar shift in the cervical apex.
Sensitive measures of spinal curvature have utility in determining changes attributed to age, deformity or trauma on cervicothoracic spinal alignment. The value of assessing the location of curve inflexion lies in the ability to quantify changes in the relationship between different regions of the human spine without problems associated with identifying specific vertebral landmarks.
确定尸检时颈胸段脊柱曲度与年龄的关系。
对颈胸段脊柱侧位X线片进行曲度评估。
年龄增长的一个后期后果是脊柱曲度逐渐加重，尤其是胸段后凸。关于后凸对颈椎排列的影响知之甚少。
采用两种方法分析172张脊柱侧位X线片（男性113例，女性59例）：（1）根据Cobb法得出胸段（T1-T12）、颈段（C2-C7）和颈胸交界区（C6-T4）的矢状面曲线变形角度；（2）将颈胸段曲度数字化（C2-T12），以得出两条曲线的顶点和拐点。
确定男女胸段脊柱曲度均显著增加，后凸的平均顶点接近T6。随着年龄增长，颈椎前凸趋于变平，尤其是男性，颈椎顶点位置向上移位。这种关联在老年男性和女性中具有显著性。随着年龄增长，颈胸段曲线拐点的平均位置从T3向C7-T1移动。
颈胸段脊柱曲度在整个生命周期中会发生渐进性变化，随后胸段后凸和颈椎前凸之间的拐点向上迁移，同时颈椎顶点也有类似的移位。
脊柱曲度的敏感测量方法有助于确定颈胸段脊柱排列因年龄、畸形或创伤而发生的变化。评估曲线拐点位置的价值在于能够量化人体脊柱不同区域之间关系的变化，而不存在识别特定椎体标志相关的问题。
