title: Decreased Vertebral Artery Hemodynamics in Patients with Loss of Cervical Lordosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND Because loss of cervical lordosis leads to disrupted biomechanics, the natural lordotic curvature is considered to be an ideal posture for the cervical spine. The vertebral arteries proceed in the transverse foramen of each cervical vertebra. Considering that the vertebral arteries travel in close anatomical relationship to the cervical spine, we speculated that the loss of cervical lordosis may affect vertebral artery hemodynamics. The aim of this study was to compare the vertebral artery values between subjects with and without loss of cervical lordosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty patients with loss of cervical lordosis and 30 controls matched for age, sex, and body mass index were included in the study. Sixty vertebral arteries in patients with loss of cervical lordosis and 60 in controls without loss of cervical lordosis were evaluated by Doppler ultrasonography. Vertebral artery hemodynamics, including lumen diameter, flow volume, peak systolic velocity, end-diastolic velocity, and resistive index, were measured, and determined values were statistically compared between the patient and the control groups. RESULTS The means of diameter (p=0.003), flow volume (p=0.002), and peak systolic velocity (p=0.014) in patients were significantly lower as compared to controls. However, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of the end-diastolic velocity (p=0.276) and resistive index (p=0.536) parameters. CONCLUSIONS The present study revealed a significant association between loss of cervical lordosis and decreased vertebral artery hemodynamics, including diameter, flow volume, and peak systolic velocity. Further studies are required to confirm these findings and to investigate their possible clinical implications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Yuzuncu Yil University, Medical Faculty, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Deniz
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Bulut
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Yuzuncu Yil University, Medical Faculty, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mahmut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alpayci
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Yuzuncu Yil University, Medical Faculty, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emre
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Şenköy
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Yuzuncu Yil University, Medical Faculty, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aydin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bora
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dicle University, Medical Faculty, Diyarbakir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yazmalar
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Yuzuncu Yil University, Medical Faculty, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Alpaslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yavuz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Yuzuncu Yil University, Medical Faculty, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: İsmail
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Gülşen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008141:Lordosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000502:physiology*