Characterization of Individuals with Sacroiliac Joint Bridging in a Skeletal Population: Analysis of Degenerative Changes in Spinal Vertebrae

The aim of this study was to characterize the individuals with sacroiliac joint bridging (SIB) by analyzing the degenerative changes in their whole vertebral column and comparing them with the controls. A total of 291 modern Japanese male skeletons, with an average age at death of 60.8 years, were examined macroscopically. They were divided into two groups: individuals with SIB and those without bridging (Non-SIB). The degenerative changes in their whole vertebral column were evaluated, and marginal osteophyte scores (MOS) of the vertebral bodies and degenerative joint scores in zygapophyseal joints were calculated. SIB was recognized in 30 individuals from a total of 291 males (10.3%). The average of age at death in SIB group was significantly higher than that in Non-SIB group. The values of MOS in the thoracic spines, particularly in the anterior part of the vertebral bodies, were consecutively higher in SIB group than in Non-SIB group. Incidence of fused vertebral bodies intervertebral levels was obviously higher in SIB group than in Non-SIB group. SIB and marginal osteophyte formation in vertebral bodies could coexist in a skeletal population of men. Some systemic factors might act on these degenerative changes simultaneously both in sacroiliac joint and in vertebral column.

[1]  T. D. Stewart.  Pathologic changes in aging sacroiliac joints. A study of dissecting-room skeletons. , 1984, Clinical orthopaedics and related research.

[2]  H. Muir,et al.  Vertebral osteophyte formation in experimental disc degeneration. Morphologic and proteoglycan changes over time. , 1980, Arthritis and rheumatism.

[3]  S. Rogers.  The need for a better means of recording pathological bone proliferation in joint areas. , 1966, American journal of physical anthropology.

[4]  H. Schmitt,et al.  Radiographic Changes in the Lumbar Spine in Former Elite Athletes , 2004, Spine.

[5]  K. Aoyagi,et al.  Associations of vertebral deformities and osteoarthritis with back pain among Japanese women: the Hizen-Oshima study , 2012, Osteoporosis International.

[6]  Jung-Hoon Lee,et al.  Application of posterior pelvic tilt taping for the treatment of chronic low back pain with sacroiliac joint dysfunction and increased sacral horizontal angle. , 2012, Physical therapy in sport : official journal of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sports Medicine.

[7]  J. Maigne,et al.  Results of Sacroiliac Joint Double Block and Value of Sacroiliac Pain Provocation Tests in 54 Patients With Low Back Pain , 1996, Spine.

[8]  M. Minami,et al.  Spondyloarthropathies in Japan: nationwide questionnaire survey performed by the Japan Ankylosing Spondylitis Society. , 2001, The Journal of rheumatology.

[9]  H. Nathan,et al.  Osteophytes of the Vertebral Column , 1962 .

[10]  J. Krainick,et al.  Sacroiliac joint arthrodesis for chronic lower back pain , 2004, Archives of orthopaedic and traumatic surgery.

[11]  A. Yoskovitch,et al.  Cervical osteophytes presenting as unilateral vocal fold paralysis and dysphagia , 2001, The Journal of Laryngology & Otology.

[12]  K. Sriram,et al.  Osteophyte at the Sacroiliac Joint as a Cause of Sciatica: A Report of Four Cases , 2002, Journal of orthopaedic surgery.

[13]  D. Resnick,et al.  Comparison of radiographic abnormalities of the sacroiliac joint in degenerative disease and ankylosing spondylitis. , 1977, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[14]  D. Lucy,et al.  Comparative degenerative joint disease of the vertebral column in the medieval monastic cemetery of the Gilbertine priory of St. Andrew, Fishergate, York, England. , 1997, American journal of physical anthropology.

[15]  J. Sieper,et al.  Inflammation, new bone formation and treatment options in axial spondyloarthritis , 2014, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[16]  O. Kwon,et al.  Effect of the pelvic compression belt on the hip extensor activation patterns of sacroiliac joint pain patients during one-leg standing: a pilot study. , 2013, Manual therapy.

[17]  D. Resnick,et al.  Degenerative disease of the sacroiliac joint. , 1975, Investigative radiology.

[18]  D. M. van der Heijde,et al.  Defining active sacroiliitis on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for classification of axial spondyloarthritis: a consensual approach by the ASAS/OMERACT MRI group , 2009, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[19]  W. Kampen,et al.  Age-related changes in the articular cartilage of human sacroiliac joint , 1998, Anatomy and Embryology.

[20]  N. Ahn,et al.  Prevalence of Concurrent Lumbar and Cervical Arthrosis: An Anatomic Study of Cadaveric Specimens , 2009, Spine.

[21]  D. Solmaz,et al.  Performance of different criteria sets for inflammatory back pain in patients with axial spondyloarthritis with and without radiographic sacroiliitis , 2014, Clinical Rheumatology.

[22]  M. Işcan,et al.  The pattern of vertebral osteophyte development in a South African population , 2006 .

[23]  Stewart Td.  Pathologic changes in aging sacroiliac joints. A study of dissecting-room skeletons. , 1984 .

[24]  L. Miller,et al.  Minimally invasive arthrodesis for chronic sacroiliac joint dysfunction using the SImmetry SI Joint Fusion system , 2014, Medical devices.

[25]  T. Miller,et al.  Ankylosing spondylitis in an athlete with chronic sacroiliac joint pain. , 2014, Orthopedics.

[26]  H. Muir,et al.  Vertebral osteophyte formation in experimental disc degeneration , 1980 .

[27]  S. Peleg,et al.  Sacroiliac Joint Bridging: Demographical and Anatomical Aspects , 2005, Spine.

[28]  K. Terazawa,et al.  Age estimation from the degree of osteophyte formation of vertebral columns in Japanese. , 2006, Legal medicine.

[29]  M. Dougados,et al.  Differences Between Women and Men With Recent‐Onset Axial Spondyloarthritis: Results From a Prospective Multicenter French Cohort , 2013, Arthritis care & research.

[30]  H. Fewer,et al.  Two cases of dysphagia due to cervical spine osteophytes successfully treated surgically. , 1985, Canadian Medical Association journal.

[31]  W. Curl,et al.  Osteophytic bridging of the sacroiliac joint , 1988, The American journal of sports medicine.

[32]  A. Silman,et al.  The distribution, determinants, and clinical correlates of vertebral osteophytosis: a population based survey. , 1999, The Journal of rheumatology.

[33]  M. Brown,et al.  Axial spondyloarthritis: a new disease entity, not necessarily early ankylosing spondylitis , 2012, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[34]  W. B. van denBerg.  Osteophyte formation in osteoarthritis. , 1999, Osteoarthritis and cartilage.

[35]  E. Maria McKinley.  Functional Anatomy of the Limbs and Back , 1981 .

[36]  J. Buchowski,et al.  Functional and radiographic outcome of sacroiliac arthrodesis for the disorders of the sacroiliac joint. , 2005, The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society.

[37]  B. Koes,et al.  Cost-effectiveness of minimal interventional procedures for chronic mechanical low back pain: design of four randomised controlled trials with an economic evaluation , 2012, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.

[38]  R. Colbert.  Early axial spondyloarthritis , 2010, Current opinion in rheumatology.

[39]  T. Waldron,et al.  An epidemiologic study of sacroiliac fusion in some human skeletal remains. , 1990, American journal of physical anthropology.

[40]  A. Gupta,et al.  Cervical spondylosis. , 1971, Journal of the Indian Medical Association.

[41]  T N Bernard,et al.  Recognizing specific characteristics of nonspecific low back pain. , 1987, Clinical orthopaedics and related research.

[42]  D. Rimar,et al.  Recently diagnosed axial spondyloarthritis: gender differences and factors related to delay in diagnosis , 2011, Clinical Rheumatology.

[43]  P. Emery,et al.  Diagnosing axial spondyloarthropathy. The new Assessment in SpondyloArthritis international Society criteria: MRI entering centre stage , 2009, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[44]  G. R. Macdonald,et al.  Sacroiliac joints; observations on the gross and histological changes in the various age groups. , 1952, Canadian Medical Association journal.

[45]  T. Tsurumoto,et al.  Periarticular Osteophytes as an Appendicular Joint Stress Marker (JSM): Analysis in a Contemporary Japanese Skeletal Collection , 2013, PloS one.

[46]  Wim B. van denBerg.  Osteophyte formation in osteoarthritis , 1999 .

[47]  T. Aigner,et al.  Osteophyte development--molecular characterization of differentiation stages. , 2003, Osteoarthritis and cartilage.

[48]  D. Wendling,et al.  New bone formation in axial spondyloarthritis. , 2013, Joint, bone, spine : revue du rhumatisme.

[49]  S. Peleg,et al.  The Association of Sacroiliac Joint Bridging With Other Enthesopathies in the Human Body , 2007, Spine.

[50]  N. Bogduk,et al.  The Sacroiliac Joint in Chronic Low Back Pain , 1995, Spine.

[51]  M. Solomon,et al.  Bridging osteophyte of the anterosuperior sacroiliac joint as a cause of lumbar back pain , 2004, British Journal of Sports Medicine.