[Radiographic morphometry of intervertebral spaces of the vertebral column in health and dystrophic changes in the intervertebral disks].

OBJECTIVE: To develop a radiographic morphometric procedure for estimating the sizes and shapes of intervertebral spaces in the thoracic and lumbar spine and to evaluate the status of intervertebral spaces in women in health in terms of their age and in dystrophic transformations of intervertebral disks. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data of a radiographic morphometric study of the sizes and forms of intervertebral spaces were analyzed in 127 women of different ages. Lateral thoracic and lumbar spondylograms performed in compliance with a number of requirements were used to estimate the sizes of anterior, middle, and posterior portions of intervertebral spaces (from T4 to L5); the magnitude of dystrophic changes in the intervertebral disks were determined applying semiquantitative methods. RESULTS: The intervertebral space width of the lower segment was more than that of the upper one. The differences in the width of intervertebral spaces of the neighboring segments in the lower portions of the vertebral column were greater than those in its upper portions. The intervertebral spaces (T4-T12) were biconvex in shape and those in the upper lumbar segments were posterior wedge-shaped. There was no noticeable narrowing of the intervertebral spaces with age. The age group of 70 years or older showed a significant moderate increase in the height of intervertebral spaces in the middle and lower thoracic vertebral segments. In varying degrees of dystrophic intervertebral disc changes, their most pronounced manifestations were found to be accompanied by a decrease in the width of intervertebral spaces in the lower half of the vertebral column in conjunction with their normal shape being impaired. CONCLUSION: The sizes and shape of intervertebral spaces show a number of regularities associated with the position of a segment in the vertebral column. In the bulk of the thoracic spine, the vertebral spaces are biconvex in shape and those in the transient thoracolumbar area and in the lumbar segment were posterior wedge-shaped. The age-related changes in the sizes and shape of intervertebral spaces are associated with their slight dilatation at the age of 70 years or older, without their normal shape being impaired. When dystro- phic intervertebral disk changes develop, there is a moderate narrowing of intervertebral spaces in the lower half of the vertebral column in conjunction with a wedge-like alteration in intervertebral discs, their shape.

[Multifactorial analysis of the results of integrated radiation study in breast cancer].

Breast cancer can be successfully diagnosed at its early stage on the basis on the detailed analysis of its clinical and radiation signs, by keeping in mind the significance of multiple factors that influence the development of the tumor. Among these factors, the endogenous causes associated with female menstrual status in particular, and the states caused by the cytohistological features of the occurred cancer are of particular importance. To assess the significance of these factors, the authors examined a set of clinical, mammographic, and ultrasound data from 120 women of different ages with the breast cancer established and verified by cytohistological examination. The findings were compared in relation to the menstrual status (pre- and postmenopausal age) at the first stage and to the sizes of a cancer nodule detected by mammography at the second stage. A number of clinical and X-ray signs of cancer were noted to be associated with premenopausal age (the uneven pattern of a skin-matted nodule, enlarged lymph nodes, limited skin thickening, oval mottled tumor shadow with prominences and frequent calcifications) and others are substantially more frequently seen in menopause (the outlines of a tumor nodule with prominences, as well as altered adjacent tissues as prominences and strands). Assessing the pattern of changes in relation to the sizes of a tumor revealed ascertained that the development of the signs of invasive tumor growth was associated with the altered low-grade cancer/ moderate-grade tumor extent ratio.

[The x-ray morphometric characteristics of the spine in persons 50 and older]. / Rentgenomorfometrichskaia kharakteristika pozvonochnika u lits 50 let i starshe.

To specify shape of the vertebra in relation to age and sex, the authors studied roentgenomorphometric evidence upon examination of the thoracic and lumbar spine in 600 patients over 50. Vertebral deformities were found in 45.1 and 44.5% of the examined males and females, respectively. Changes corresponding to vertebral body fracture were recorded in 12.3% of the males and 15.3% of the females. Age-related trends in the frequency of various defects have been analyzed. The frequency differed in males and females.

[The epidemiology of osteoporotic fractures in the population of the city of Yaroslavl]. / Epidemiologiia osteoporoticheskikh perelomov v populiatsii goroda Iaroslavlia.

Prevalence and types of hip and spinal fractures were studied in Yaroslavl citizens aged > 50 years. In 1985 prevalence of hip fractures was 36.41 per 100000, in 1993-145, 84 per 100000. Maximal number of the fractures occurred in patients aged over 70 years. Fractures of the thoracic and lumbar spine were registered in 15.00 per 100000 with an increase in 1994. Osteoporotic hip fractures in the population sample occurred less frequently than fractures of the non-typical sites.