Prevalence and characteristics of thoracic diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis in 3299 black patients

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and characteristics of thoracic diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (T-DISH) in the Black patients using the computed tomography (CT) analysis. This study is a cross-sectional study. All patients who underwent chest CT for the trauma screening and whose race was categorized as “Black” on the questionnaire were recruited in the study from Mar 2019 to Mar 2020. Demographic data, including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and presence of diabetes mellitus (DM), were recorded. A total of 3299 Black patients (1507 women and 1792 men) were included for the analysis. The prevalence of T-DISH was 7.7% (255 patients), with 8.6% for females and 7.0% for males. The highest prevalence was observed in patients at the age of 70 years (11.7%), followed by the age of 80 years (10.5%). The highest prevalence level of T-DISH segment was at T8, followed by T9, and T7. The most frequent number of contiguous vertebrae was seven (21%). BMI was not associated with T-DISH. The presence of DM was significantly higher in male patients with T-DISH than those without T-DISH (P = 0.02).