Is Lumbosacral Transitional Vertebra Associated with Degenerative Lumbar Spinal Stenosis?

Janan Abbas,Natan Peled,Israel Hershkovitz,Kamal Hamoud

doi:10.1155/2019/3871819

Abstract

The aim of this study was to shed light on the association between lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LSTV) and degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS). A cross-sectional retrospective study was performed on 165 individuals that were diagnosed with clinical picture of DLSS (age range: 40-88 years; sex ratio: 80M/85F) and 180 individuals without DLSS related symptoms (age range: 40-99 years; sex ratio: 90M/90F). All participants had undergone high-resolution CT scan for the lumbar region in the same position. We also used the volume rendering method to obtain three-dimensional CT images of the lumbosacral area. Both males and females in the stenosis group manifest greater prevalence of LSTV than their counterparts in the control group (P<0.001). Furthermore, the presence of LSTV increases the likelihood of degenerative spinal stenosis (odds ratio= 3.741, P<0.001). In the control group, LSTV was more common in males, and sacral slope angle of males was significantly greater in LSTV group compared to non-LSTV. This study indicates that LSTV was significantly associated with symptomatic DLSS.

Highlights

Lumbar spinal stenosis is one of the most commonly diagnosed and treated conditions among the elderly population [1, 2]
The second group included 165 patients with symptomatic Degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS), who were enrolled from 2006 to 2010 and had intermittent claudication accompanied by other symptoms related to spinal stenosis (LBP and radicular pain) [30, 31]
We found that 95 individuals who manifest spinal stenosis (57.6%) have Lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (LSTV) compared to 47 (26.1%) in the control group (P

Summary

Introduction

Lumbar spinal stenosis is one of the most commonly diagnosed and treated conditions among the elderly population [1, 2]. Degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS) is considered the most common acquired type [6] and is associated with degenerative changes of the three-joint complex, ligamentum flavum thickening, and osteophytes formation [7,8,9]. The term LSTV is used to avoid having to decide whether the vertebra is sacralized L5 or a lumbarized S1 because it is not possible to view the entire spine [10]. Their reported prevalence range between 4% and 36% [11,12,13,14] with a remarkable preference in men [15, 16]. It has been reported that LSTV are generally easier to detect on CT images than on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [17, 18]

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Conclusion