Thickening of spine ligamentum flavum and facet tropism

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the thickening of the ligamentum flavum (LF) and its correlation with facet tropism and its severity at different levels of the spine. Method: This retrospective study was performed with patients with chronic back pain consecutively admitted to a specialized spinal surgery service between January 2012 and January 2013. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the thickness of the LF and facet tropism severity (severe, moderate or absent) according to the spine levels (L3 -L4, L4-L5, L5-S1). The association between the thickness of LF and facet tropism was analyzed. Results: During the study period, 98 consecutive patients were enrolled with a mean age of 53.6 years, most women (59.2%). There was no significant difference between the thicknesses of the ligament and the presence of tropism in different spinal levels (p > 0.05). The thickness of LF was significantly associated with the severity of tropism only in L5-S1 level (p < 0.03). Conclusions: Our results show that there is a positive relationship between severe facet tropism and increased thickness of the LF in the L5-S1 level.Keywords: Spine; Ligamentum flavum; Intervertebral disc; Intervertebral disc degeneration. L5-S1 (p < 0,03 rEsUMO Objetivo: Este estudo investigou se o espessamento do ligamento amarelo (LA) está correlacionado com a presença de tropismo facetário e sua gravidade nos diferentes níveis da coluna vertebral. Método: Este estudo retrospectivo foi realizado com pacientes com dor lombar crônica, consecutivamente admitidos em serviço especializado em cirurgia da coluna vertebral entre janeiro de 2012 e janeiro de 2013. Todos foram submetidos a exames de ressonância magnética (RM) para mensurar a espessura do LA e a gravidade do tropismo facetário (grave, moderada e ausente) conforme os níveis da coluna (L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1). Foi analisada a associação entre a espessura do LA e o tropismo. Resultados: No período do estudo, foram admitidos 98 pacientes, com média de idade de 53,6 anos, maioria de mulheres (59,2%). Não foi verificada diferença significativa entre as espessuras dos ligamentos e a presença de tropismo nos diferentes níveis (p > 0,05). A espessura do LA associou-se significativamente à gravidade do tropismo apenas no nível

Facet Tropism and Orientation: Risk Factors for Degenerative Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

“…Some authors have correlated the sagittal orientation of the facet joint with degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS) [6,[8][9][10][11][12][13] and disc disease [14]. Previous studies have also reported that FT is associated with spine degeneration such as facet joint arthrosis [15,16], degenerative scoliosis [17,18], disc herniation [18][19][20][21][22], and ligamentum flavum thickening [23,24]. Others, however, have disputed some of these associations [6,25,26].…”