gms | German Medical Science

54. Jahrestagung der Norddeutschen Orthopädenvereinigung e. V.

Norddeutsche Orthopädenvereinigung

16.06. bis 18.06.2005, Hamburg

Age-dependent changes of the position of the cervical facet joints

Meeting Abstract

  • corresponding author C. von Schulze Pellengahr - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Klinikum Großhadern, Orthopädie, München
  • C. Birkenmaier - München
  • B. Wegener - München
  • V. Jansson - München

Norddeutsche Orthopädenvereinigung. 54. Jahrestagung der Norddeutschen Orthopädenvereinigung e.V.. Hamburg, 16.-18.06.2005. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2005. Doc05novEP107

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/nov2005/05nov175.shtml

Published: June 13, 2005

© 2005 von Schulze Pellengahr et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.


Outline

Text

The knowledge of the exact courses of motion of the segments and the facet joints of the spinal column is particularly a condition for the construction of physiological disk arthroplasties. It is today unsettled whether the facet joints in the course of life change their position that might influence the course of motion in the individual sgments.

The angle of the cranialen and the caudalen joint facets to the cranial cover plate of every vertebral body of the cervical segments C3/C4 to C7/T1 on lateral radiographs were measured in 131 patients. The measured values were correlated with the respective patient age. Additionally the patient collective was divided into 2 groups of equal in size. In the first group the patient age was 14-57 years, in the second group 58 - 85 years. In each group of patients for each joint facet the middle value for the position of the corresponding facets were determined and the differences were tested for significance with the t-test.

The correlations resulted in a significant flattening with increasing age for all joint facets. The average values for all joint facets in the group > = 58 years were significantly lower than the corresponding values in the group < 58 years.

With increasing age it comes to a flattening of the joint facets of the cervical spine, which suggests a change of the course of motion of the movement segments. This should be considered with the construction of new cervical disk arthroplasties.