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. 2024 Feb 27;25(1):181.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-024-07279-3.

A possible correlation between facet orientation and development of degenerative cervical spinal stenosis

Haimiti Abudouaini #  1 , Junsong Yang #  1 , Kaiyuan Lin  1 , Yibing Meng  1 , Hong Zhang  2 , Sibo Wang  3
Affiliations

A possible correlation between facet orientation and development of degenerative cervical spinal stenosis

Haimiti Abudouaini et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the relationship between sagittal facet orientation and cervical degenerative spondylolisthesis. However, the associations between facet orientation and cervical spinal stenosis (CSS) have rarely been studied.

Methods: One hundred twenty patients with CSS (CSS group) and 120 healthy participants (control group) were consecutively enrolled. The cervical facet angles and anteroposterior diameter (A-P diameter) of spinal canal at each subaxial cervical levels were measured using axial magnetic resonance imaging. The intersection angle of the midsagittal line of the vertebra to the facet line represents the orientation of the facet joint.

Results: The facet angles on the right side at C2- C3 and C3-C4 in CSS group and at C2- C3 in control group had significantly higher values than those of the other sides. Besides, the facet angles and A-P diameter of spinal canal in CSS group were significantly smaller than those in control group at all levels (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that patients with CSS have smaller axial cervical facet joint angles compared to the healthy individuals. Further studies are needed to elicit the specific underlying mechanism between sagittalization of the cervical facet joints and the pathology of CSS.

Keywords: Anteroposterior diameter; Degenerative cervical spinal stenosis; Facet joint; Sagittal orientation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Measurement method of the facet joint angle and anteroposterior diameter (A-P diameter) of spinal canal in the transverse MRI image. A facet line was drawn connecting the anterior and posterior margins of each of the superior articular facet. Then, a mid-sagittal line was added that passed through the center of the base of the spinous process. The angle between the facet line and the midsagittal line was defined as the facet angle
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Cross section view of the cervical spinal cord measured on T2-weighted magnetic resonance images. A–P diameter was defined as the highest distance of spinal cord, H1 was the highest and H2 was the lowest points of the spinal canal
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The bar chart of facet angle distribution at different levels
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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