title: Morphology of the lumbar spinal canal in normal adult Turks.
abstract: Pathological changes can occur in the diameters of the lumbar spinal canal. Therefore, assessing the canal size an important diagnostic procedure. Two hundred plain anterioposterior radiographs of the lumbar spine were examined. The sample consisted of 100 males and 100 females. The transverse diameter of the bony spinal canal (interpedicular distance), which was measured as the minimum distance between the medial surfaces of the pedicles of a given vertebra, was measured. In addition, the transverse diameter of the vertebral body, which was measured as the minimum distance across the waist of the vertebra, was measured. The distances were measured to the nearest one tenth of a millimetere using a Vernier caliper. At all levels (L1 - L5) the transverse diameters of the lumbar spinal canal were approximately 1 - 1.5 mm higher in males than in females. The intersegmental differences increased proximodistally, in both sexes. The ratio of the transverse diameter canal to the width of the vertebra ranged from 0.55 to 0.60 mm in both sexes. The distribution of the different lumbar canal types were 47% A, 42% B, 11% C. Additionally, subtypes were determined and classified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dicle University Medical Faculty, Diyarbakir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Orhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tacar
authors.forename: Ayda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Demirant
authors.forename: Kemal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nas
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Altindağ
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D012016:Reference Values; D013115:Spinal Canal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014421:Turkey