title: Morphological changes of the ligamentum flavum as a cause of nerve root compression.
abstract: The ligamentum flavum is considered to be one of the important causes of radiculopathy in lumbar degenerative disease. Although there have been several reports anatomically examining the positional relationship between the ligamentum flavum and nerve root, there are few reports on ventral observation. The purpose of this study is to clarify the shape of the ligamentum flavum seen ventrally, and to obtain anatomic findings related to nerve root compression. The subjects were 18 adult embalmed cadavers, with an average age of 78 years at the time of death. The ventral shapes of the ligamentum flavum were observed. The relationships between the morphological change of the ligamentum flavum and nerve root compression or radiographic findings were statistically evaluated. Among the shapes of the ligamentum flavum, bulging of the ligament was most frequently observed. Proximal bulging indicates the type with the cranial portion bulging from the subarticular zone to the foraminal zone of the ligamentum flavum. In this type associated with a decrease in disc height, nerve root compression was frequently observed. Thus, we could more realistically grasp the relationship between bulging morphology of the ligamentum flavum and nerve root compression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Clinical Medical Science, Programs for Applied Biomedicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Kasumi 1-2-3, Minami-ku, 734-8551 Hiroshima, Japan. teruo@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Teruaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okuda
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Itsushi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ochi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002102:Cadaver; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D017843:Ligamentum Flavum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011843:Radiculopathy / Q000473:pathology*; D011859:Radiography; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*