Alexander Swart, Abdelrahman Hamouda, Zach Pennington, Nikita Lakomkin, Anthony L Mikula, Michael L Martini, Mahnoor Shafi, Thirusivapragasam Subramaniam, Arjun S Sebastian, Brett A Freedman, Ahmad N Nassr, Jeremy L Fogelson, Benjamin D Elder
Background: Multisegmental pathologic autofusion occurs in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). It may lead to reduced vertebral bone density due to stress shielding. Methods: This study aimed to determine the effects of autofusion on bone density by measuring Hounsfield units (HU) in the mobile and immobile spinal segments of patients with AS and DISH treated at a tertiary care center. The mean HU was calculated for five distinct regions-cranial adjacent mobile segment, cranial fused segment, mid-construct fused segment, caudal fused segment, and caudal adjacent mobile segment...
March 1, 2024: Journal of Clinical Medicine