Vergleichende Analyse zweier computerassistierter Techniken zur Ausmessung lateraler Röntgenaufnahmen der Lendenwirbelsäule des Menschen

Rationale and Objectives: The author performed this study to compare the effectiveness of two methods used to measure intervertebral space height and sagittal vertebral translation. Materials and Methods. Forty - five series of lateral lumbar spine radiographs were evaluated with two methods: distortion-corrected radiographic analysis (DCRA) and computer-assisted lumbar spine measurement (CALSM). Intervertebral space height and sagittal translation depicted on radiographs obtained before and after the patients underwent spinal fusion were measured with both methods (CALSM was used in this study, DCRA values were taken out of a former study). The values obtained with CALSM were then correlated with those obtained with DCRA. Results. The values of intervertebral space height and sagittal vertebral translation and of changes in both over time as assessed with CALSM did not show sufficient correlation with the values obtained with DCRA. Correlation coefficients ranged from -0.088 to 0.605 and were statistically highly significant (P <= .01) for only six of the 48 items measured with both CALSM and DCRA. Moreover, without additional graphic constructs, CALSM did not provide sufficiently consistent identification of vertebral corner points. Conclusion. With regard to the measurement of intervertebral space height and sagittal translation on lateral lumbar spine radiographs, CALSM appears not to be valid. Therefore, only DCRA and stereophotogrammetry currently warrant recommendation for reliable and accurate measurement of intervertebral disc height and sagittal translation of vertebral bodies on conventional radiographs of the human spine.