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. 2024 Aug;33(8):3008-3016.
doi: 10.1007/s00586-024-08218-5. Epub 2024 Jun 16.

Exploration of the correlation between facet joints cross-sectional area asymmetry and cervical disc herniation

Weijie Yu #  1 , Xinyu Wan #  1 , Yihan Zhang  2 , Xianlong Yue  3 , Mengxian Jia  1 , Minghang Chen  1 , Jiaxin Lai  1 , Guoting Xu  1 , Honglin Teng  4
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Exploration of the correlation between facet joints cross-sectional area asymmetry and cervical disc herniation

Weijie Yu et al. Eur Spine J. 2024 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the association between facet joints cross-sectional area asymmetry (FCAA) and cervical intervertebral disc herniation (CDH).

Methods: Overall, we retrospectively recruited 390 consecutive patients with CDH who underwent surgical treatment at our institution and 50 normal participants. Clinical variables and radiological findings related to CDH were collected.

Results: Patients with CDH were more likely to have a higher absolute value of the facet asymmetry factor (FAF) (p < .001), in which the FAF value of the left group was significantly higher than the other groups (p < .001) and the right group was lower than the central group (p < .001). 9.62% (C3/4), 12.19% (C4/5), 8.70% (C5/6), and 8.14% (C6/7) were determined as cutoff values for each variable that maximized sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that cross-sectional area asymmetry of the facet joint (FCAA) was an independent risk factor for the occurrence of CDH. Also, the Chi-square test showed a significant difference in the distribution of the degeneration classification of the disc between the facet-degenerated group and the nondegenerated group at C5/6 (p = 0.026) and C6/7 (p = 0.005) in the facet asymmetry (FA) group.

Conclusions: FCAA is evaluated as an independent risk factor for CDH and associated with the orientation of disc herniation. And facet joint orientation may also play a role in cervical spine degeneration rather than facet joint tropism.

Keywords: Cervical vertebrae; Degenerative; Facet tropism; Intervertebral disc displacement; Zygapophyseal joint.

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