Abstarct 10

ANTERO-POSTERO DIFFERENCES IN CORTICAL THICKNESS AND CORTICAL POROSITY OF THORACO-LUMBAR VERTEBRAL BODIES

Nick Fazzalari ^1,2,3, Ian Parkinson ^1,2,3, Quentin Fogg ⁴, Peter Sutton-Smith ^1,2,3

^1. Division of Tissue Pathology, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science.
^2. Bone and Joint Research Laboratory, Hanson Institute.
^3. Department of Pathology, University of Adelaide.
^4. Department of Anatomy and Histology, Flinders University. South Australia.

The relationships between the vertebral body cortex and cancellous bone trabecular thickness have not been well characterised. This study will investigate interrelationships between the cortical shell and cancellous bone trabecular thickness, in the thoracolumbar spine

One hundred and sixty vertebral bodies from the thoracolumbar spine were obtained at autopsy. The average age of the cohort was 59.3 ± 22.1 years (range = 20 - 94 years). Cortical thickness, cortical porosity and trabecular thickness from the adjacent cancellous bone were measured.

At the mid-vertebral body level, anterior cortical thickness was significantly greater than posterior cortical thickness (524 µm ± 352 µm versus 370 µm ± 283 µm, respectively, p < 0.0001) and anterior cortical porosity was significantly less than posterior cortical porosity (24 % ± 14 % versus 32 % ± 16 %, respectively, p < 0.0001). Cortical thickness of the midanterior region was correlated with trabecular thickness from the middle of the vertebral body (r=0.25, p<0.002). In contrast, cortical thickness of the mid-posterior region was correlated to trabecular thickness of the cancellous bone adjacent to the mid-posterior cortical wall.

This study provides a novel perspective of thoracolumbar vertebral body bone, where measurement of cortical thickness and cortical porosity in a cohort of skeletally normal individuals revealed structural differences between load bearing anterior and posterior cortical walls. The correlation between cortical thickness and trabecular thickness at different regions suggests that modulators of change to vertebral body bone may affect the cortical and trabecular bone differently. The relationships between cortical and cancellous bone suggest that the middle sectors of the vertebral body play a critical role in load bearing.

Return to Listing of 2004 Abstracts
View Listing of 2005 Abstracts