Clinical Relationship of Degenerative Changes between the Cervical and Lumbar Spine

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, observational, case series. PURPOSE: To elucidate the prevalence of degenerative changes in the cervical and lumbar spine and estimate the degenerative changes in the cervical spine based on the degeneration of lumbar disc through a retrospective review of magnetic resonance (MR) images. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Over 50% of middle-aged adults show evidence of spinal degeneration. However, the relationship between degenerative changes in the cervical and lumbar spine has yet to be elucidated. METHODS: A retrospective review of positional MR images of 152 patients with symptoms related to cervical and lumbar spondylosis with or without a neurogenic component was conducted. The degree of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) was assessed on a grade of 1–5 for each segment of the cervical and lumbar spine using MR T2-weighted sagittal images. The grades across all segments were summed to produce the degenerative disc score (DDS) for the cervical and lumbar spine. The patients were divided into two groups based on the IDD grade for each lumbar segment: normal (grades 1 and 2) and degenerative (grades 3–5). RESULTS: DDSs for the cervical and lumbar spine were positively correlated. Significant differences in cervical DDSs between the groups were observed in all lumbar segments. Although there were no significant differences in cervical DDSs among the degenerative lumbar segment, cervical DDSs at the L1–2 and L2–3 segments tended to be higher than those at the L3–4, L4–5, and L5–S degenerative segments. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that participants with degenerative changes in the upper lumbar segments are more likely to have a certain amount of cervical spondylosis. This information could be used to lower the incidence of a missed diagnosis of cervical spine disorders in patients presenting with lumbar spine symptomology.