Changes in age, anthropometric measures, and lumbar spine morphology of girls with increased and deceased vertebral wedging.

<p>Changes in age, anthropometric measures, and lumbar spine morphology of girls with increased and deceased vertebral wedging.</p

Boxplot showing differences in vertebral cross-sectional growth between girls with increased (<i>n</i> = 14) and decreased vertebral body wedging (<i>n</i> = 13); <i>p</i> = 0.001.

<p>Boxplot showing differences in vertebral cross-sectional growth between girls with increased (<i>n</i> = 14) and decreased vertebral body wedging (<i>n</i> = 13); <i>p</i> = 0.001.</p

Age, anthropometric, and MRI measurements of lumbar spine morphology in 27 healthy girls at baseline and follow-up.

<p>Age, anthropometric, and MRI measurements of lumbar spine morphology in 27 healthy girls at baseline and follow-up.</p

Multiple linear regression model on the effect of changes in vertebral wedging, after adjusting for gains in age, height, and weight, on lumbar lordosis progression.

<p>Multiple linear regression model on the effect of changes in vertebral wedging, after adjusting for gains in age, height, and weight, on lumbar lordosis progression.</p

Simple linear regression between changes in vertebral CSA and vertebral wedging (<i>r</i> = -0.611; <i>p</i> = 0.001).

<p>Simple linear regression between changes in vertebral CSA and vertebral wedging (<i>r</i> = -0.611; <i>p</i> = 0.001).</p

Multiple linear regression model relating gains in age, height, weight, and vertebral CSA to changes in vertebral wedging.

<p>Multiple linear regression model relating gains in age, height, weight, and vertebral CSA to changes in vertebral wedging.</p

Post-mortem MRI and histological examinations of the BFP.

<p>MRI and histological examinations of the BFP (arrow) in post-mortem studies of a 3 day old infant depicting low FF values (green) and small adipocytes, polygonal in shape, with multiple intracellular lipid droplets, characteristic of BAT (A) and a 1.1 month old infant depicting high FF values (red) and large white adipocytes, circular in shape, with single intracellular vacuoles of lipid droplets, characteristic of WAT (B).</p

Age, anthropometric characteristics, gestational age, and birth weight of 32 infants.

<p>Age, anthropometric characteristics, gestational age, and birth weight of 32 infants.</p

Multiple linear regression analysis for the prediction of FF measures in the BFP.

<p>Multiple linear regression analysis for the prediction of FF measures in the BFP.</p

Association between vertebral cross-sectional area and lumbar lordosis angle in adolescents

<div><p>Lumbar lordosis (LL) is more prominent in women than in men, but the mechanisms responsible for this discrepancy are poorly defined. A recent study indicates that newborn girls have smaller vertebral cross-sectional area (CSA) when compared to boys—a difference that persists throughout life and is independent of body size. We determined the relations between vertebral cross-sectional area (CSA) and LL angle and whether sex differences in lumbar lordosis are related to sex differences in vertebral CSA. Using multi-planar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we measured vertebral cross-sectional area (CSA) and vertebral height of the spine of 40 healthy boys and 40 girls, ages 9–13 years. Measures of the CSA of the lumbar vertebrae significantly differed between sexes (9.38 ± 1.46 vs. 7.93 ± 0.69 in boys and girls, respectively; P < 0.0001), while the degree of LL was significantly greater in girls than in boys (23.7 ± 6.1 vs. 27.6 ± 8.0 in boys and girls, respectively; P = 0.02). When all subjects were analyzed together, values for LL angle were negatively correlated to vertebral CSA (r = -0.47; P < 0.0001); this was also true when boys and girls were analyzed separately. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that vertebral CSA was independently associated with LL, even after accounting for sex, age, height or vertebral height, and weight. Similar negative relations were present when thoracic vertebrae were analyzed (Model P < 0.0001, R² = 0.37, thoracic vertebral CSA slope P < 0.0001), suggesting that deficient vertebral cross-sectional dimensions are not merely the consequence of the anterior lumbar curvature. We conclude that vertebral CSA is negatively associated with LL, and that the greater degree of LL in females could, at least in part, be due to smaller vertebral cross-sectional dimensions. Studies are needed to examine the potential relations between vertebral CSA and spinal conditions known to be associated with increased LL, such as spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis.</p></div