Published online Aug 16, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i23.5329
Revised: May 29, 2024
Accepted: June 19, 2024
Published online: August 16, 2024
Processing time: 125 Days and 9.9 Hours
Cervical spine fracture-dislocations in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are mostly unstable and require surgery. However, osteoporosis, one of the comorbidities for AS, could lead to detrimental prognoses. There are few accurate assessments of bone mineral density in AS patients.
To analyze Hounsfield units (HUs) for assessing bone mineral density in AS patients with cervical fracture-dislocation.
The HUs from C2 to C7 of 51 patients obtained from computed tomography (CT) scans and three-dimensional reconstruction of the cervical spine were inde
The HUs decreased gradually from C2 to C7. The mean values of the left and right levels were significantly higher than those in the middle. Among the 51 patients, 25 patients (49.02%) may be diagnosed with osteoporosis, and 16 patients (31.37%) may be diagnosed with osteopenia.
The HUs obtained by cervical spine CT are feasible for assessing bone mineral density with excellent agreement in AS patients with cervical fracture-dislocation.
Core Tip: In this study, we analyzed Hounsfield units (HU) for assessing bone mineral density in patients with ankylosing spondylitis who developed cervical spine fracture-dislocation. The HU obtained by cervical spine computed tomography are feasible for assessing bone mineral density with excellent agreement. Subsequently, by analyzing the HU, we described the distribution of vertebral HU in ankylosing spondylitis patients with cervical fracture-dislocation. Among the 51 cervical fracture-dislocation patients with AS, 25 patients (49.02%) were diagnosed with osteoporosis, whereas 16 patients (31.37%) were diagnosed with osteopenia.