Types of the statics of the spine in patients of young, elderly and senile age
Authors: Orel A. M. 
Published: June 2020

Introduction. A complete and systematic x-ray examination of all parts of the spine at the same time in elderly and senile people has not yet been carried out. On the other hand, radiography can identify spinal statics disorders that are typical for this category of people.

The goal of research — describe the types of spinal statics disorders in young, elderly and senile people.

Materials and methods. Digital radiography of all parts of the spine was performed in 103 patients with dorsopathies. The first group included 50 patients aged 60–74 years; men 16, women 34. The second study group included 21 patients aged 75–88 years, 6 men and 15 women. The third control group included 32 randomly selected people aged 21 to 45 years, 15 men and 17 women. The study belongs to the group of a posteriori x-ray processing and was carried out without the participation and additional irradiation of patients. On the screen of a personal computer, using the methods developed by the author, unified digital x-ray images of all parts of the spine of each patient were obtained. From the INION point, a vertical line occipital vertical descended along all the structures of the spine. Using the midpoint of the front and rear contour x-ray image of the vertebral body of the TII and TXII the front-rear axes were passed through until they intersect with the occipital vertical at the back and intersect with each other at the front. A qualitative assessment of the occipital vertical passage relative to the structures of the spine and a quantitative assessment of the angles of inclination and the angle of intersection of the front-rear axes of the TII and TXII vertebrae was carried out..

Results. Five types (from 0 to 4) of spine statics were described and criteria for their qualitative and quantitative assessment were determined. It was found that in the control group, the most common type of spine statics was zero (0), while type 3 and 4 were not determined. In contrast, 3 and 4 types of spinal statics were most frequently observed in second group of patients. In the first group of patients, types 1 and 2 of spine statics were most often revealed, and other types of spine statics also occurred. Among the entire group of examined patients n=103 0 type of spinal statics disorder was detected in 27 (26,2 %) patients, type 1 in 35 (34 %), type 2 in 22 (21,3 %), type 3 in 11 (10,7 %) and type 4 in 8 patients (7,8 %). In patients with type 0 spinal statics, the angle of inclination of the front-rear axis of the TII vertebra was 16,67±8,49º, and of the TXII vertebra was 18,33±4,33º. In type 1 statics of the spine, the angle of inclination of the front-rear axis of the TII vertebra was 26,66±6,73º, and of the TXII vertebra was 21,17±4,92º. In type 2 spinal statics, the angle of inclination of the front-rear axis of the TII vertebra was 32,95± 6,82º, and of the TXII vertebra was 19,68±5,4º. In type III spinal statics, the angle of inclination of the front-rear axis of the TII vertebra was 41,09±9,22º, and of the TXII vertebra 26±11,05º. Type 4 statics of the spine were diagnosed in the presence of type 1–3 statics, in addition to which a pathological fracture or multiple compression fractures were detected in any part of the spine, or the vertebral bodies took the form of fish vertebrae.

Conclusion. The study demonstrated the presence of characteristic prevailing types of spinal statics in young, elderly and senile people. These qualitative and quantitative criteria allow us to evaluate them. Based on the results of the study, an application for the utility patent of the Russian Federation «The Method for Evaluating Spine Statics», № 2019144992, priority dated 30.12.2019 was issued and filed. The identified qualitative and quantitative indicators can be used to develop criteria for determining the biological age of a person, which will contribute to improving the evidence-based approach to medicine.