Demographical aspects of Schmorl nodes: a skeletal study.
METHODS
A descriptive study of the association between Schmorl nodes (SNs) and gender, ethnic origin, and age in a normal skeletal population.


OBJECTIVE
To gain reliable data on behavioral patterns of SNs in various human groups shedding light on its etiology.


BACKGROUND
Opinions regarding SNs prevalence in human populations vary greatly (from 5% to 70%). This caveat greatly reduced our ability to recognize the etiology of the phenomenon and understand its clinical significance.


METHODS
Two hundred forty human skeleton vertebrae (T4-L5) from a normal adult population (divided by gender, ethnicity, and age) were examined for SNs. SNs were defined as depressions with sclerotic margins appearing on the vertebral body surface.


RESULTS
One hundred sixteen individuals (48.3%) of the 240 studied manifested SNs along their thoracolumbar spine. SNs are age independent and gender and ethnicity dependent, are significantly more common in males (54.2%) versus females (43%) and more common in European-Americans (60.3%) versus African-Americans (36.7%).


CONCLUSIONS
SNs are a common phenomenon in the normal adult populations with almost half of the individuals in our sample manifesting at least 1 vertebra with SN. Its demographic characteristics suggest that the phenomenon is not of occupational origin, promoting the notion of genetic background.
Dar
Gali
G
Department of Physical Therapy, Haifa University, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel. galidar@yahoo.com
Peleg
Smadar
S
Masharawi
Youssef
Y
Steinberg
Nili
N
May
Hila
H
Hershkovitz
Israel
I
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000473:pathology; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009144:Museums; D015588:Observer Variation; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult