Eijiro Okada, Morio Matsumoto, Daisuke Ichihara, Kazuhiro Chiba, Yoshiaki Toyama, Hirokazu Fujiwara, Suketaka Momoshima, Yuji Nishiwaki, Takeshi Takahata


September 2011, Volume 20, Issue 9, pp 1567 - 1573 Original Article Read Full Article 10.1007/s00586-011-1774-x

First Online: 23 March 2011

There has been no prospective study on age-related changes of the extensor muscles of the cervical spine in healthy subjects. This study was conducted to elucidate any association between the changes in cross-sectional area of the extensor muscles of the cervical spine on MRIs and cervical disc degeneration or the development of clinical symptoms. Sixty-two subjects who underwent MR imaging by a 1.5-Tesla machine between 1993 and 1996 as asymptomatic volunteers in a previous study were recruited again 10 years later for this follow-up study. The mean interval between the studies was 11.0 ± 0.7 years. The cross-sectional areas of the multifidus, semispinalis cervicis, semispinalis capitis, and splenius capitis at C3–C4, C4–C5, and C5–C6 intervertebral levels were measured on T2-weighted axial images using Image J 1.42. The mean cross-sectional areas of the deep extensor muscles were 1,396.8 ± 337.6 mm2 at the C3–C4 level, 1,514.7 ± 381.0 mm2 at the C4–C5 level, and 1,542.8 ± 373.5 mm2 at the C5–C6 level in the previous investigation. The cross-sectional areas were 1,498.7 ± 374.4 mm2 at the C3–C4 level, 1,569.9 ± 390.9 mm2 at the C4–C5 level, and 1,599.6 ± 364.3 mm2 at the 10-year follow-up. An increase in the cross-sectional area of the muscles was more frequently observed in subjects in their tens to thirties in the initial study, while a decrease was more frequently observed in those in their forties and older in the initial study. Disc degeneration was not correlated with a change in extensor muscle volume. Development of shoulder stiffness during follow-up was significantly negatively correlated with a change in the cross-sectional area of the deep extensor muscles.


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