American Journal of Neuroradiology· 2014Q1· Review
Systematic Literature Review of Imaging Features of Spinal Degeneration in Asymptomatic Populations
- 1,194citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2014year
Short summary
Spine imaging findings of degeneration are highly prevalent in asymptomatic individuals, increasing with age, with disk degeneration present in 96% of 80-year-olds and disk bulges in 84%.
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Key points
- Disk degeneration prevalence in asymptomatic individuals increases from 37% at age 20 to 96% at age 80.
- Disk bulge prevalence in asymptomatic individuals increases from 30% at age 20 to 84% at age 80.
- Annular fissure prevalence increases from 19% at age 20 to 29% at age 80.
- Thirty-three articles and 3110 asymptomatic individuals were included in the systematic review.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Degenerative changes are commonly found in spine imaging but often occur in pain-free individuals as well as those with back pain. We sought to estimate the prevalence, by age, of common degenerative spine conditions by performing a systematic review studying the prevalence of spine degeneration on imaging in asymptomatic individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a systematic review of articles reporting the prevalence of imaging findings (CT or MR imaging) in asymptomatic individuals from published English literature through April 2014. Two reviewers evaluated each manuscript. We selected age groupings by decade (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years), determining age-specific prevalence estimates. For each imaging finding, we fit a generalized linear mixed-effects model for the age-specific prevalence estimate clustering in the study, adjusting for the midpoint of the reported age interval. RESULTS: Thirty-three articles reporting imaging findings for 3110 asymptomatic individuals met our study inclusion criteria. The prevalence of disk degeneration in asymptomatic individuals increased from 37% of 20-year-old individuals to 96% of 80-year-old individuals. Disk bulge prevalence increased from 30% of those 20 years of age to 84% of those 80 years of age. Disk protrusion prevalence increased from 29% of those 20 years of age to 43% of those 80 years of age. The prevalence of annular fissure increased from 19% of those 20 years of age to 29% of those 80 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: Imaging findings of spine degeneration are present in high proportions of asymptomatic individuals, increasing with age. Many imaging-based degenerative features are likely part of normal aging and unassociated with pain. These imaging findings must be interpreted in the context of the patient's clinical condition.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 2014 · DOI ↗
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Field: Pathology and Forensic Medicine
Pathology and Forensic MedicineMedicine