Low intervertebral disc height in postmenopausal women with osteoporotic vertebral fractures compared to hormone-treated and untreated postmenopausal women and premenopausal women without fractures

Abstract

Objective: To assess the intervertebral disc height in postmenopausal women with osteoporotic vertebral fractures. Methods: A total of 203 women were recruited from a bone densitometer directory. The disc heights measured were those between the 12th thoracic and 3rd lumbar vertebrae. The discs were assigned the symbols D, whereby D1 refers to the disc between the 12th thoracic and 1st lumbar vertebrae. The disc height of the group of women (n = 38) with osteoporotic vertebral fractures was compared to the disc heights of hormone-treated women (n = 47), untreated postmenopausal women (n = 77) and another group of premenopausal women (n = 41). Results: The total disc height (D1 – D3) (mean ± standard deviation) in the fracture group was 1.58 ± 0.1 cm, significantly lower (p < 0.0001) than in the untreated group (1.82 ± 0.06 cm), which in turn was significantly (p < 0.0001) lower than in the hormone-treated group (2.15 ± 0.08 cm) and in the premenopausal group (2.01 ± 0.09 cm). Conclusion: The fracture group was noted to have the lowest intervertebral disc height compared to the other three groups. The hormone-treated and the premenopausal women had the highest disc heights recorded. These results may be due to the effect that the menopause and senescence have on the discal connective tissue components. This may lead to loss of the shock-absorbing properties of the intervertebral disc and an altered discoid shape, influencing the occurrence of osteoporotic vertebral body fractures.