[Study of the growth of the vertebral bodies in adolescents].

The height of the vertebral growth zones of 13 adolescents dying between the ages of 13 and 18 years was determined with the aid of an eyepiece micrometer. In addition, the proportion 'total of widths of chondrocyte columns/diameter of the growth zone' was established. In the cervical spine, the growth zones of the caudal end plates were significantly higher than those of the cranial end plates. The reverse was true for the thoracic vertebrae. In the lumbar spine, however, conditions resembled those found in the cervical spine in that the caudal end plates were higher than those of the cranial plates; yet, there was no statistically significant difference in the relative quota 'chondrocyte columns/diameter of growth zone' in this segment of the spine. These results suggest that lengthwise growth of cervical and lumbar vertebrae is more marked in the caudal than in the cranial end plates, whereas, in the thoracic spine, growth of the cranial exceeds that of the caudal end plates. Moreover, the height of the growth zones increases in a craniocaudal direction, a fact which could be related to the more marked growth of lumbar as compared to cervical or thoracic vertebrae.