At what speed does spinal degeneration gear up?: Aging Paradigm in patients with Low Back Pain

Aging is a cause of spinal degeneration. However, the natural history of degeneration process is unclear. We aimed to analyze change of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) and Modic changes in Caucasians with LBP decade by decade. We also aimed to find out breaking points of having severe IVDD and Modic changes throughout human life.

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a retrospective database in patients aged between 10 and 100 years. All patients were evaluated in terms of IVDD and Modic changes. Optimal binning was conveyed to group age of the patients in terms of major changes in percentages of severe IVDD and Modic changes.

We evaluated 2434 patients (female: 1328 and male: 1106; mean age: 47.2 ± 17.2 years; age range = 10-98 years). In all patients, 50.5% and 23.6% had severe IVDD and Modic changes at any lumbar level, respectively. Women were significantly more likely to have severe IVDD than men. Frequency of Modic changes at any lumbar level significantly increased in 40 s and 60 s, whereas frequency of severe IVDD at any lumbar level significantly increased in 20 s, 30 s, 50 s and 70 s CONCLUSION: Spinal degeneration had specific gear-up periods in human life. Age groups of future spine studies could be defined according to the new defined change periods of severe IVDD and Modic changes in human life.