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CT morphometry of adult thoracic intervertebral discs

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Abstract

Purpose

Despite being commonly affected by degenerative disorders, there are few data on normal thoracic intervertebral disc dimensions. A morphometric analysis of adult thoracic intervertebral discs was, therefore, undertaken.

Methods

Archival computed tomography scans of 128 recently deceased individuals (70 males, 58 females, 20–79 years) with no known spinal pathology were analysed to determine thoracic disc morphometry and variations with disc level, sex and age. Reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).

Results

Anterior and posterior intervertebral disc heights and axial dimensions were significantly greater in men (anterior disc height 4.0 ± 1.4 vs 3.6 ± 1.3 mm; posterior disc height 3.6 ± 0.90 vs 3.4 ± 0.93 mm; p < 0.01). Disc heights and axial dimensions at T4-5 were similar or smaller than at T2-3, but thereafter increased caudally (mean anterior disc height T4-5 and T10-11, 2.7 ± 0.7 and 5.4 ± 1.2 mm, respectively, in men; 2.6 ± 0.8 and 5.1 ± 1.3 mm, respectively, in women; p < 0.05). Except at T2-3, anterior disc height decreased with advancing age and anteroposterior and transverse disc dimensions increased; posterior and middle disc heights and indices of disc shape showed no consistent statistically significant changes. Most parameters showed substantial to almost perfect agreement for intra- and inter-rater reliability.

Conclusions

Thoracic disc morphometry varies significantly and consistently with disc level, sex and age. This study provides unique reference data on adult thoracic intervertebral disc morphometry, which may be useful when interpreting pathological changes and for future biomechanical and functional studies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the staff of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM), particularly Trish O’Brien; Dr. Alice Guidera for assisting with the inter-rater reliability analyses; and Mr. Robbie McPhee for helping produce Fig. 1. No external funding was received to undertake this study.

Conflict of interest

None.

Ethical standard

Research ethics: Approval was received from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Ethics Committee (EC 9/2012) and the Multi-Region Ethics Committee, New Zealand (MEC/12/EXP/048).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Justin G. R. Fletcher, Mark D. Stringer & Stephanie J. Woodley

  2. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Christopher A. Briggs

  3. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Tilman M. Davies

Authors
  1. Justin G. R. Fletcher
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  2. Mark D. Stringer
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  3. Christopher A. Briggs
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  4. Tilman M. Davies
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  5. Stephanie J. Woodley
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie J. Woodley.

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Fletcher, J.G.R., Stringer, M.D., Briggs, C.A. et al. CT morphometry of adult thoracic intervertebral discs. Eur Spine J 24, 2321–2329 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-3925-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-3925-y

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