INVERSE RELATION BETWEEN VERTEBRAL BODY DEFORMITY AND INTERVERTEBRAL-DISK NARROWING IN LUMBAR SPINE OF ELDERLY WOMEN

To investigate the relation between vertebral body deformity and disk narrowing in the lumbar spine of elderly patients, a longitudinal radi ographic study of 56 aged women was retrospectively performed. We meas ured disk areas and body heights on two lateral lumbar radiograph sets obtained with an average interval between examinations of 10 years. T he absolute values of disk areas on first examination and the rates of change of area of disks adjacent to nondeformed bodies were smaller t han the corresponding values for the deformed bodies. Conversely, defo rmed bodies tended to have normal or expanded disks regardless of the mode of deformity. Despite the small number of subjects studied, our f indings suggested that an inverse relation may exist between vertebral body deformity and disk narrowing.