A standard for measuring the relative spine values of adults

Abstract

The paper proposes a method for using the relative values of linear dimensions for spine structures, which are necessary to compare the results obtained from digital and conventional radiographs having different scales.The purpose of the study: to develop a method for quantifying the spine structures of adult patients in relative units of measurement.Materials and methods. Using digital spine radiographs of 141 patients (from 21 to 88 years old), with careful observance of the same magnification, it is shown that the metric length of the segment tangent to the image of the vertebral body CI lower contour – the órel standard – has no age trend.Results and discussion. The ratio of segment tangent to the image of sacrum upper contour (segment s) and órel standard dimension also does not depend on age and is on average equal to 2.1. So the segment can be approximately calculated as órel = s/2.1. A group of 64 patients, from 21 to 88 years old, taken from the general cohort is divided into four age subgroups according to the WHO classification. It is shown that relative vertical spine size decreases with age. The difference in average relative vertical spine size for the first and the fourth age subgroups was 3.75 órels. The relative contribution of each spine part to the decrease is also demonstrated.Conclusion. The proposed relative unit of measurement “órel” can be used as a universal measure of length, independent of the scale and method of obtaining an X-ray image for measuring and comparing the structures of the spine in adults at any age.