Matsumoto M, Fujimura Y, Suzuki N, Nishi Y, Nakamura M, Yabe Y, Shiga H
Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1998 Jan;80(1):19-24. doi: 10.1302/0301-620x.80b1.7929.
We studied degenerative changes in the cervical intervertebral discs of 497 asymptomatic subjects by MRI and evaluated disc degeneration by loss of signal intensity, posterior and anterior disc protrusion, narrowing of the disc space and foraminal stenosis. In each subject, five disc levels from C2-C3 to C6-C7 were evaluated. The frequency of all degenerative findings increased linearly with age. Disc degeneration was the most common observation, being present in 17% of discs of men and 12% of those of women in their twenties, and 86% and 89% of discs of both men and women over 60 years of age. We found significant differences in frequency between genders for posterior disc protrusion and foraminal stenosis. The former, with demonstrable compression of the spinal cord, was observed in 7.6% of subjects, mostly over 50 years of age. Our results should be taken into account when interpreting the MRI findings in patients with symptomatic disorders of the cervical spine.
我们通过磁共振成像（MRI）研究了497名无症状受试者颈椎间盘的退变情况，并根据信号强度降低、椎间盘前后突出、椎间隙变窄和椎间孔狭窄来评估椎间盘退变。对每名受试者，评估了从C2-C3至C6-C7的五个椎间盘节段。所有退变表现的发生率均随年龄呈线性增加。椎间盘退变是最常见的表现，在20多岁男性的椎间盘中有17%出现，女性中有12%出现，而在60岁以上的男性和女性中，分别有86%和89%的椎间盘出现退变。我们发现，椎间盘后突和椎间孔狭窄在不同性别中的发生率存在显著差异。前者伴有可证实的脊髓受压，在7.6%的受试者中观察到，大多数年龄超过50岁。在解读有症状的颈椎病患者的MRI检查结果时，应考虑到我们的研究结果。
