2Ankara Medikal Park Hospital, Radiology Clinic, ANKARA Introduction: Lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS) is the most common spinal disorder in elderly patients. Ligamentum flavum (LF) hypertrophy contributes to the development of this disorder. We examined the correlations between LF thickness, measured on the magnetic resonance images, and age, gender, LSCS, disc degeneration, and disc herniation.
Materials and Method: Three hundred and forty patients complaining of low back pain were evaluated (mean age: 57.8±11.2 years). LF thickness was measured at the L2-3, L3-4, L4-5, and L5-S1 levels using axial T1-weighted magnetic resonance images at the facet joint level. All patients were examined for spinal stenosis, disc degeneration, and disc herniation.
Results: LF thickness was significantly greater in the LSCS group at the L2-3, L3-4, and L4-5 levels (p<0.05). LF thickness at all levels increased with age (p<0.05). No effect of gender was observed on LF thickness (p>0.05). LF thickness at all levels was significantly greater in patients with degeneration of Pfirrmann grades IV-V than in those with degeneration of grades I–III (p<0.05). There was no association between lumbar disc herniation and LF thickness at the lumbar intervertebral levels (p>0.05).
Conclusion: In elderly patients, LF hypertrophy was correlated with age, LSCS, spinal level, and disc degeneration, and not with disc herniation and gender.
Keywords : Ligamentum Flavum; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration; Spinal Canal; Magnetic Resonance Imaging