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Correlation of age with the morphology of children’s spines: a cross-sectional study based on CT-scan images
Rum A.I.
Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio Per Le Scienze Mediche
Q4Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pediatric spines differ from adult spine, which can complicate the evaluation of abnormalities. Developing spine are more prone to trauma due to physiological changes. This study aimed to determine the correlation between the corpus, pedicles, and laminae spine morphology with the child’s age.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on eligible pediatric patients who had undergone spinal CT scans between February and March 2023. Anatomy of the pedicle, lamina, and vertebral body at each cervical (N.=16), thoracic level (N.=24), and lumbar (N.=15) were assessed in axial, sagittal, and oblique sections. The Pearson Correlation Test was used in this study.RESULTS: Child age was positively correlated with lamina size of C3 (r=0.605, P<0.05), C4 (r=0.638, P<0.05), C5 (r=0.537, P<0.05), C6 (r=0.751, P<0.05), and C7 (r=0.695, P<0.05), and pedicle sizes of C3 (r=0.545, P=0.029) and C4 (r=0.577, P<0.05) in axial sections. In addition, the child’s age was positively correlated with all sizes of the measurement parameters at each level in axial and sagittal sections (r=0.35-0.85, P<0.01) but not in oblique sections. Furthermore, the child’s age was positively correlated with lamina size at L1 axial (r=0.595, P=0.019), pedicle size at L2 axial (r=0.671, P<0.01), lamina size (r=0.721, P<0.05) and pedicle (r=0.608, P=0.016) at L3 axial, and all measurement parameters at L4-L5 axial sections (r=0.55-0.85, P<0.01).CONCLUSIONS: Increasing age in children is always followed by growth in the lamina, pedicle, and corpus spine structure. The transverse width of the pedicle is the dimension used as a reference for pedicle screw size.