STRUCTURAL-PROPERTIES OF THE ANTERIOR LONGITUDINAL LIGAMENT - CORRELATION WITH LUMBAR BONE-MINERAL CONTENT

The relationship between the amount of bone in the lumbar spine and li gamentous properties has not been studied. This article reports the te nsile structural properties of bone-ligament-bone preparations of the anterior longitudinal ligament from 15 human lumbar spine segments. Si gnificant correlations were found between the vertebral bone mineral c ontent expressed as BMC (g/cm) and BMA (g/cm2) and BMD (g/cm3) and the structural properties of the vertebral bone-anterior longitudinal lig ament-bone complex determined at yield and failure. These findings sug gest that the amount of bone tissue in the spine may be functionally r elated to structural properties of the spinal ligaments.