Measurement of vertebral body dimensions of the thoracic and lumbar spines of 242 healthy women

Abstract:

To establish diagnostic criteria for osteoporosis using roentgenograms of vertebral bodies, the posterior margin, anterior margin, and central portion heights of 14 vertebral bodies in 242 healthy women were measured. It was demonstrated that the measurement of vertebral heights using a digitizer by one expert could be made with high accuracy, based on the results of comparison between roentgenograms on a 50% reduced scale and ordinary-scale roentgenograms as well as those of daily and day-to-day variations of the measured values. According to these measurements, the seventh thoracic vertebra showed the most marked tendency toward wedge formation and the fifth lumbar vertebra toward reverse-wedge formation. In the measurement of vertebral body heights, the accuracy decreased at vertebral levels where the images of thoracic vertebral bodies are superimposed upon by the shadows of cardiovascular organs. Because the variations in measurement values in Japanese were not significant in comparison with those in European and American persons, means minus 3 SD were almost the same as means minus 25% designated in Japan with respect to the ratio of anterior to posterior margin heights of vertebral bodies. Moreover, the means minus 3 SD were almost equal to means minus 20%, with respect to the ratio of central to posterior margin heights of vertebral bodies. Thus, our conclusion is that the definition of vertebral deformity as designated in Japan is sufficiently accurate for the diagnosis of osteoporosis.