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Review
. 2023 Jun 26;18(1):457.
doi: 10.1186/s13018-023-03941-z.

Correlation analysis of the vertebral compression degree and CT HU value in elderly patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures

Cheng Li  1 , Xing-Ming Lai  1 , Nian Liu  1 , Yang Lin  1 , Wei Hu  2
Affiliations
Review

Correlation analysis of the vertebral compression degree and CT HU value in elderly patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures

Cheng Li et al. J Orthop Surg Res. .

Abstract

Background: To explore the correlation of the vertebral compression degree and cancellous bone CT HU in elderly patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures.

Methods: Elderly patients with single-segment vertebral fragility fractures were retrospectively reviewed. All patients experienced a low-energy trauma and underwent thoracolumbar MRI. The consistency of measurement between two spine surgeons was evaluated. The average CT HU value of the adjacent vertebral body was used instead.

Results: A total of 54 patients were included in the final analysis. The patients' average age was 70.39 ± 8.53 years, and the average CT HU value was 72.78 ± 29.75 HU. The average vertebral compression ratio was 0.57 ± 0.16. Measurements showed both good intrarater repeatability and good interrater reproducibility of the vertebral compression ratio (ICC = 0.978). The degree of vertebral compression in thoracolumbar osteoporotic fractures was strongly positively correlated with the cancellous bone CT HU value (P < 0.01).

Conclusions: The local bone quality as evaluated by the CT HU value is an important factor affecting the degree of compression in osteoporotic vertebral fractures. This study provides quantitative evidence that a greater compression ratio with thoracolumbar osteoporotic fractures was associated with lower bone density in elderly patients. Further longitudinal studies with larger cohorts are needed to verify this relationship.

Keywords: BMD; CT hounsfield unit; Cancellous bone; Osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures.

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Conflict of interest statement

Cheng Li, Xing-ming Lai, Nian Liu, Yang Lin, Wei Hu declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
An 81-year-old male with a compression fracture of the L1 vertebral body. The average cancellous bone CT HU value of the T12 and L2 vertebral bodies was determined because of severe compression
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
In the case of whole-body compression, the degree of vertebral compression was determined by a/c rather than a/b
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Strong positive correlation of the degree of vertebral compression with the CT HU value of cancellous bone in thoracolumbar osteoporotic fractures (R2 = 0.454)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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