Ranjbar Ehsan, Alizadeh Seyed Danial, Mirkamali Hanieh, Jalalifar Mohammad-Rasoul, Jalayeri Hediyeh, Pourzand Pouria, Rukerd Mohammad Rezaei Zadeh
Radiology Department, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Spine Deform. 2025 May;13(3):897-902. doi: 10.1007/s43390-024-01037-0. Epub 2025 Jan 10.
To investigate the association between lumbar degenerative scoliosis and the dural sac cross-sectional area (DSCA), the lumbar canal anterior-posterior (LCAP) diameter, and the neural foraminal cross-sectional area (NFCA) in relation to facet joint tropism (FJT).
In a retrospective case-control study, we analyzed data from 160 patients referred for lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between January 2020 and December 2022. Cobb's angle on anteroposterior lumbosacral X-ray is served to identify the presence of degenerative lumbar scoliosis-Cobb's angle exceeding 10 degrees-, and axial T2W MRI is implemented to evaluate facet joint angles and tropism-defined as a difference exceeding 10 degrees between the facet joint angles at each level-, DSCA, LCAP, and NFCA.
FJT was much more common in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis (69%) than in controls (14%). The frequency of FJT also incremented with the increasing severity of the scoliotic curve. We observed that LCAP and NFCA were significantly smaller in cases with FJT. However, no statistically significant difference was found in DSCA related to FJT. Age and gender did not exhibit significant associations with degenerative lumbar scoliosis, and no correlation was detected between different Cobb's angle groups and age.
These findings underscore the importance of considering FJT as a potential contributing factor to degenerative lumbar scoliosis and may have implications for clinical diagnosis and management. Prospective research with larger and more diverse cohorts is needed to further investigate this complex relationship and its impact on lumbar spinal health.
研究腰椎退变性侧凸与硬脊膜囊横截面积（DSCA）、腰椎管前后径（LCAP）以及神经孔横截面积（NFCA）与小关节面不对称（FJT）之间的关联。
在一项回顾性病例对照研究中，我们分析了2020年1月至2022年12月期间160例因腰椎磁共振成像（MRI）就诊患者的数据。通过腰骶部前后位X线片上的Cobb角来确定是否存在退变性腰椎侧凸（Cobb角超过10度），并采用轴向T2加权MRI评估小关节面角度和不对称情况（定义为各节段小关节面角度差异超过10度）、DSCA、LCAP和NFCA。
FJT在退变性腰椎侧凸患者中更为常见（69%），而在对照组中仅为14%。FJT的发生率也随着脊柱侧凸曲线严重程度的增加而升高。我们观察到，存在FJT的病例中LCAP和NFCA明显较小。然而，与FJT相关的DSCA未发现统计学上的显著差异。年龄和性别与退变性腰椎侧凸无显著关联，不同Cobb角组与年龄之间也未检测到相关性。
这些发现强调了将FJT视为退变性腰椎侧凸潜在促成因素的重要性，可能对临床诊断和治疗有影响。需要进行更大规模、更多样化队列的前瞻性研究，以进一步探究这种复杂关系及其对腰椎健康的影响。
