Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
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J. Bone Miner. Res. · Jan 1997
The thickness of human vertebral cortical bone and its changes in aging and osteoporosis: a histomorphometric analysis of the complete spinal column from thirty-seven autopsy specimens.
The object of this study was to analyze the cortical thickness (Ct. Th) of the ventral and dorsal shell of the vertebral bodies throughout the human spine in aging and in osteoporosis. Therefore, the complete front column of the spine of 26 autopsy cases (aged 17-90, mean 42 years) without diseases affecting the skeleton and of 11 cases (aged 58-92, mean 77 years) with proven osteoporosis were removed. ⋯ This decrease of cortical thickness was more marked in the dorsal shell (p < 0.05) than in the ventral shell (ventral from C3 to T6 [p < 0.05] below T6 [p = NS]). We therefore conclude that in osteoporosis the loss of spinal bone mass is not only a loss of trabecular structure but also a loss of cortical thickness. Furthermore, these results may explain the development of regions of least resistance within the spine in aging and the clustering of osteoporotic fractures in the lower thoracic and lumbar spine.