Age-Related Changes and Spinal Sagittal Alignment in Asymptomatic Community Dwelling Adults Over 50

作者：Yu Wang, Zheng Wang, Dongfang Wang, Chengxin Liu, Chao Kong, Weiguo Zhu, Fumin Pan, Xiangyu Li, Xiaolong Chen, Shibao Lu · 发表于：Spine · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1097/brs.0000000000005248 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Scoliosis diagnosis and treatment、Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology、Spinal Fractures and Fixation Techniques

STUDY DESIGN: Monocentric, retrospective, cross-sectional study. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the age-related normative values of sagittal parameters and establish their relationships in asymptomatic community-dwelling adults aged over 50. BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Degenerative changes in the spine with aging alter the sagittal balance, causing spine pathologies. However, there was a lack of comprehensive study on age-related normative values of sagittal alignment and their relationship during degenerative evolution. METHODS: Among a total of 1,370 volunteers, 701 asymptomatic volunteers were recruited. Participants underwent a lateral X-ray, and sagittal parameters were assessed using a customized computer application. RESULTS: Age showed a stronger correlation with upper arc of thoracic kyphosis (Upper_TK) (r=0.39) compared to sagittal vertical axis (SVA) (r=0.28) and T1_slope (r=0.29). Lumbar lordosis (LL) did not exhibit a significant decrease with age. The geometrical relationship revealed a significant correlation between TK and LL (r=0.52), and LL and pelvic incidence (PI) (r=0.63), as per the equations: TK=Upper_TK+Lower arc of TK (Lower_TK), LL=Upper arc of LL (Upper_arc)+sacral slope (SS), Lower_TK≈Upper_arc, and PI=SS+pelvic tilt (PT). However, after removing intermediate control variables of Lower_TK (Upper_arc) and SS, the correlation between TK, LL, and PI was statistically weak, due to the little to no correlation between Lower_TK (Upper_arc), SS, and PT. Upper_arc (Low...