Comorbidities associated with cervical spine degenerative disc disease

Mark J Lambrechts; Kyle Maryan; Wyatt Whitman; Tzu-Chuan Yen; Jinpu Li; Emily V Leary; James L Cook; Theodore J Choma

doi:10.1016/j.jor.2021.07.008

Comorbidities associated with cervical spine degenerative disc disease

J Orthop. 2021 Jul 16:26:98-102. doi: 10.1016/j.jor.2021.07.008. eCollection 2021 Jul-Aug.

Authors

Mark J Lambrechts¹, Kyle Maryan², Wyatt Whitman², Tzu-Chuan Yen¹, Jinpu Li¹, Emily V Leary^{1

3}, James L Cook^{1

3}, Theodore J Choma^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
² University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA.
³ Thompson Laboratory for Regenerative Orthopaedics, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.

Abstract

Determining important links between medical comorbidities and cervical spine degenerative disc disease (DDD) will help elucidate pathomechanisms of disc degeneration. Electronic medical records and magnetic resonance imaging were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate 799 patients assessed for cervical spine pathology. Bivariate analysis identified older age, diabetes, ASA class, cancer, COPD, depression, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Medicare status, peripheral vascular disease, history of previous cervical spine surgery, smoking, and lower median household income as having strong associations with increased cumulative grade of cervical spine DDD. This study provides evidence suggesting aging and accumulation of medical comorbidities influence severity of cervical spine DDD.

Keywords: Cervical spine; Degenerative disc disease; Electronic medical records; Magnetic resonance imaging; Pathomechanisms.