Morphometric parameters and indices of the lumbar intervertebral disks at girls and women

Annotation. Individual variability of intervertebral discs is one of the factors that makes it difficult to recognize the early signs of their pathological changes before the onset of clinical manifestations. In the development of evidence-based medicine, it is important to use clear criteria for distinguishing between norm and pathology, taking into account individual variability. The “mathematical modeling” and a comprehensive approach to quantitative and qualitative assessment of intervertebral discs will help in the early detection of abnormalities, in the individualization of norm, as well as in modeling the parameters of the artificial intervertebral disc for reconstructive interventions. The analysis by methods of descriptive statistics and the correlation analysis for the purpose of further mathematical processing, selection of optimal parameters for mathematical modeling is carried out. Anthropometric characteristics (body length and body weight, mass-growth factor and mass-growth index) were determined in young women and women of the first period of adulthood (16-26 years), as in separate age groups and in the combined group. MRI of the lumbar spine was performed, followed by morphometry. Statistical analysis was performed in the license program “STATISTICA 6.1”. The mean values of the variation series, standard deviations, coefficients of variation and asymmetry, paired t-test, d-test of Kolmogorov-Smirnov type, Levene index were evaluated. It was determined that the sums of the transverse and sagittal dimensions and the sums of the three dimensions increase proportionally in the caudal direction, have a distribution of indicators as close as possible to normal, and their coefficients of variation are many times smaller than for cross-sectional areas and volumes. Indicators of the ratio of the sum of sagittal and transverse size and the sum of three sizes to the average height of the intervertebral discs have a variability of less than 10% and correspond to the characteristics of the general population. Body weight and body length have significantly higher correlation coefficients with the sums of sagittal and transverse dimensions, with the sums of three dimensions, and cross-sectional areas in comparison with the partial dimensions of the intervertebral discs.