Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the morphological changes in L4/5 intervertebral foramen with age using a digital method. The closed boundaries of the intervertebral foramen (IGES) in different sagittal slices (inside, middle and outside) were obtained from Mimics, and then imported to a custom-written program, which provided quantitative distance between the nerve root and the closed curves. The quantitative information of each age group was used to produce radar chart and line chart for morphological and statistical analyses. Overall, the intervertebral foramen changes mainly occurred in the inner part from middle age to old age. The foraminal height decreased with age in the inside sagittal slice, while no significant difference was found in the middle sagittal slice or the outside sagittal slice. The foraminal width showed no decrease in each age group or each sagittal plane. The present study described foraminal geometry of asymptomatic males in different sagittal slices with age. This information enhances the knowledge of anatomical changes in intervertebral foramen with age, which provides better understanding of the pathology of intervertebral foramen diseases.
Highlights
The intervertebral foramen lies between the pedicles of neighboring vertebrae at all levels in the spine
The changes in intervertebral foramen morphology mainly occur in the inter part and boundary in the ventro-dorsal direction, which has an adduction tendency in all sagittal slices
The morphological changes of inner part boundary of intervertebral foramen were obvious in different age groups (Fig. 3A–C)
Summary
The intervertebral foramen lies between the pedicles of neighboring vertebrae at all levels in the spine. Many studies have focused on the morphology of intervertebral foramen in vivo and in vitro[20,23,24,25,26]. Width of intervertebral foramen were examined in healthy subjects and patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis, with the 3D method[10,24]. The quantitative statistical data was limited to the foraminal height, foraminal width and area of intervertebral foramen. There is no agreement on the morphology of intervertebral foramen, the variation may be caused by different methods adopted to determine the foraminal geometry[24]. A custom-written program was used to automatically and accurately obtain morphological and quantitative information of the intervertebral foramen. The purpose of the present study was to explore the morphological changes of the L4/5 intervertebral foramen with age
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