부산대학교 도서관

Objective: Thoracolumbar transitional vertebrae (TLTV) result from overlapping somites and retain features from the thoracic and lumbar regions. Based on the current literature, a need to further investigate TLTV with regards to repeatable differentiation, classification and clinical significance had been identified. Methods: This project aimed to identify vertebral anomalies and to determine whether TLTV can be quantitatively differentiated from thoracic and lumbar vertebrae at the thoracolumbar junction. Skeletal remains from Pretoria and the Western Cape of South Africa (n=287) in addition to CT scans (n=175) from Windhoek in Namibia were evaluated in this study. This was achieved by measuring the superior zygapophyseal facet angle. This study also aimed to evaluate whether associations exist among congenital malformations of the spine. Results: The results show that the prevalence of TLTV ranges between 7.5% (Windhoek), 30% (Western Cape) and 33.2% (Pretoria) in the reference samples. The results clearly demonstrate that thoracic, lumbar and TLTV falls into separate confidence intervals in skeletal remains T12 is 189±9.5 (CI: 188--190), 110.6±7.88 (CI: 109.0--111.6) for L1, and 137±24.11 (CI: 133.5--140.5) for TLTV. The mean confidence interval in CTscans for T12 is 182.8±10.4 (CI: 181.6--183.9), 112.3±7.27 (CI: 111.5--113) for L1, and 136±23.18 (CI: 125--147) for TLTV. Conclusion: The results strongly infer that quantitative morphometry from the superior articular facets of vertebrae can differentiate between T12, L1 and TLTV using radio-images or skeletal remains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]