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Abstract：
Background/Objectives: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the preferred diagnostic means to visualize spinal pathologies, and offers the possibility of precise structural tissue analysis. However, knowledge about MRI-based measurements of physiological cross-sectional musculoskeletal dimensions and associated tissue-specific average structural brightness in the lumbar spine of healthy young women and men is scarce. The current study was planned to investigate characteristic intersexual differences and to provide MRI-related musculoskeletal baseline values before the onset of biological aging. Methods: At a single medical center, lumbar MRI scans of 40 women and 40 men aged 20-40 years who presented with moderate nonspecific low back pain were retrospectively evaluated for sex-specific differences in cross-sectional sizes of the fifth lumbar vertebrae, psoas and posterior paravertebral muscles, and respective sex- and age-dependent average brightness alterations on T2-weighted axial sections in the L5-level. Results: In women (mean age 33.5 years ± 5.0 (standard deviation)), the investigated musculoskeletal cross-sectional area sizes were significantly smaller (p < 0.001) compared to those in men (mean age 33.0 years ± 5.7). Respective average musculoskeletal brightness values were higher in women compared to those in men, and most pronounced in posterior paravertebral muscles (p < 0.001). By correlating brightness results to those of subcutaneous fat tissue, all intersexual differences, including those between fifth lumbar vertebrae and psoas muscles, turned out to be statistically significant. This phenomenon was least pronounced in psoas muscles. Conclusions: Lumbar musculoskeletal parameters showed significantly larger dimensions of investigated anatomical structures in men compared to those in women aged 20-40 years, and an earlier onset and faster progress of bone loss and muscle degradation in women.
摘要：
背景/目的：磁共振成像（MRI）是可视化脊柱病理的首选诊断手段，并提供了精确的结构组织分析的可能性。然而,关于基于MRI的健康年轻女性和男性腰椎生理横截面肌肉骨骼尺寸和相关组织特异性平均结构亮度的测量知识很少。本研究计划调查特征性的性交差异，并在生物衰老开始之前提供MRI相关的肌肉骨骼基线值。方法：在一个医疗中心，对40名年龄在20-40岁之间的女性和40名男性进行腰椎MRI扫描，这些患者表现为中度非特异性下腰痛，对第五腰椎的横截面尺寸进行了性别特异性差异的回顾性评估。腰大肌和椎旁后肌,以及L5级T2加权轴向截面上各自的性别和年龄相关的平均亮度变化。结果：在女性中（平均年龄33.5岁±5.0（标准偏差）），与男性(平均年龄33.0岁±5.7岁)相比,研究的肌肉骨骼横截面面积显著较小(p<0.001).女性的平均肌肉骨骼亮度值高于男性，在椎旁后肌最为明显（p<0.001）。通过将亮度结果与皮下脂肪组织的亮度结果相关联，所有的性别差异，包括第五腰椎和腰大肌之间的肌肉，被证明具有统计学意义。这种现象在腰大肌中最不明显。结论：与20-40岁的女性相比，男性的腰椎肌肉骨骼参数显示出明显更大的解剖结构尺寸。女性骨质流失和肌肉退化的发病更早、进展更快。
