Morphometric Study of Lumbar Vertebrae in Adult South African Subjects

Abstract

© 2016, Universidad de la Frontera. All rights reserved. Lumbar vertebral dimensions provide vital clinical information of immense diagnostic benefits to medical experts. The present study provides data for lumbar vertebral dimensions of a cohort of specimens of South African females and males. Measurements were obtained from lumbar vertebrae from the osteological collections in the Discipline of Clinical Anatomy, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine using a digital caliper. The antero-posterior body diameter (APD), interpedicular distance (IPD), midsagittal diameter (MSD) and pedicle length (PL) were measured while ratio of MSD to APD was calculated. Results showed gradual increase from L1 to L5 for mean APD and IPD, and a decrease for mean PL from L1 to L5. Mean MSD was observed to present a “U” curve pattern from L1 to L5, while MSD/APD ratio decreased from L2 downwards. We report that certain lumbar dimensions also showed significant correlation with age at distinct lumbar levels. The present data provides a baseline of lumbar vertebral morphology for the South African adult cohort and requires further investigations with larger cohort.