Comparison of imaging findings of paraspinal muscle tissue degeneration in patients with degenerative and isthmic spondylolisthesis

doi:10.12307/2025.804

Abstract

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Existing studies have compared patients with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis with healthy populations, but comparative studies focusing on differences in this aspect of the parameter between these different lumbar spondylolisthesis are lacking.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the differences in paraspinal muscle degeneration between isthmic spondylolisthesis and degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, and their correlation with low back pain symptoms.
METHODS: A total of 107 patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis treated in Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University between February 2019 and August 2023 were analyzed retrospectively. They were divided into the isthmic spondylolisthesis group (39 patients) and the degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis group (68 patients) according to the type of spondylolisthesis. Paravertebral muscle tissue parameters were compared and analyzed as well as functional scores (visual analog scale for low back pain) in both groups. According to the visual analog scale score, the two groups of patients were divided into two subgroups: those with a visual analog scale score ≤45 mm and those with a visual analog scale score > 45 mm, and the relationship between the difference in visual analog scale score and the parameters of paraspinal muscle tissue degeneration was analyzed.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The percentage of fat infiltration in the multifidus muscle was higher in the degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis group than in the isthmic spondylolisthesis group (P=0.003). (2) The percentage of fat infiltration in the multifidus muscle was significantly lower in patients with a visual analog scale score of ≤ 45 mm than in patients with a visual analog scale score of > 45 mm in both groups (P=0.021, P < 0.001). (3) Patients in the isthmic spondylolisthesis group also showed a significantly lower percentage of fat infiltration in patients with visual analog scale score ≤ 45 mm compared with those with visual analog scale score > 45 mm (P=0.002). (4) These results showed that there was a significant difference in paraspinal muscle tissue degeneration between isthmic spondylolisthesis patients and degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis patients, and that degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis patients demonstrated more severe paraspinal muscle degeneration compared to isthmic spondylolisthesis patients. In addition, the percentage of fatty infiltration of the multifidus muscle was relatively greater in those with higher pain scores in both groups of lumbar spondylolisthesis patients.

Key words: degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, isthmic spondylolisthesis, paravertebral musculature, multifidus, erector spinae, psoas major, relative cross-sectional area, percentage of fat infiltration

CLC Number:

R459.9|R318|R685

Wang Shoukang, Liang Gang, Liu Xiaolei, Hong Chunbo, Xin Bing. Comparison of imaging findings of paraspinal muscle tissue degeneration in patients with degenerative and isthmic spondylolisthesis[J]. Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research, 2025, 29(27): 5869-5875.

Figures/Tables 6

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