Hämäläinen O, Vanharanta H, Kuusela T
Air Force Academy, Kauhava, Finland.
Aviat Space Environ Med. 1993 Aug;64(8):692-6.
This study investigated the occurrence and the degree of cervical disk degeneration among senior fighter pilots frequently exposed to high +Gz forces, compared with nonexposed controls matched for age and sex. A resistive magnetic resonance (MR) scanner operating at 0.1 T was used to image the cervical intervertebral disks. Sagittal MR images were obtained and disk degeneration was graded 0-6. Both the occurrence and the median degree of disk degeneration were greater among the pilots than among the controls. The greatest difference in the occurrence of disk degeneration (grades 1-6), which also reached statistical significance, was detected for the C3-4 disk: 88% among the fighter pilots and 64% among the controls, respectively. With respect to the moderate degenerative changes (grades 3 and 4) in the C3-4 disk, the difference in the occurrence (88% vs. 36%) was again statistically significant. There was no difference between the other disks. The median disk degeneration between the groups differed (2.0 vs. 1.0), the difference being the most remarkable (3.0 vs. 1.0) for the C3-4 disk. The differences in the median disk degeneration were also statistically significant. These findings suggest that frequent exposure to high +Gz forces may cause premature disk degeneration.
本研究调查了经常暴露于高正加速度（+Gz）力的资深战斗机飞行员颈椎间盘退变的发生率和程度，并与年龄和性别相匹配的未暴露对照组进行了比较。使用一台0.1T的电阻磁共振（MR）扫描仪对颈椎间盘进行成像。获取矢状面MR图像，并将椎间盘退变程度分为0 - 6级。飞行员中椎间盘退变的发生率和中位程度均高于对照组。在C3 - 4椎间盘，椎间盘退变发生率（1 - 6级）的最大差异也具有统计学意义，战斗机飞行员中为88%，对照组中为64%。对于C3 - 4椎间盘的中度退变改变（3级和4级），发生率的差异（88%对36%）再次具有统计学意义。其他椎间盘之间无差异。两组之间的椎间盘退变中位值不同（2.0对1.0），C3 - 4椎间盘的差异最为显著（3.0对1.0）。椎间盘退变中位值的差异也具有统计学意义。这些发现表明，频繁暴露于高+Gz力可能会导致椎间盘过早退变。
