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Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery - British Volume, Vol 84-B, Issue 2, 289-294.
doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.84B2.11937  
Copyright © 2002 by British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery
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Intervertebral disc degeneration adjacent to a lumbar fusion

AN EXPERIMENTAL RABBIT MODEL

F. M. Phillips, MD, Associate Professor; J. Reuben, MD, Orthopaedic Resident; and F. T. Wetzel, MD, Associate Professor

Section of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, Spine Centre, 4646 North Marine Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60640, USA.

Correspondence should be sent to Dr F. M. Phillips.

Our study establishes a rabbit model of disc degeneration which requires neither a chemical nor physical injury to the disc. Disc degeneration similar to that seen in man was created at levels proximal (L4-L5) and caudal (L7-S1) to a simulated lumbar fusion and was studied for up to nine months after arthrodesis.

Loss of the normal parallel arrangement of collagen bundles within the annular lamellae was observed in intervertebral discs adjacent to the fusion at three months. By six months there was further disorganisation as well as loss of distinction between the lamellae themselves. By nine months the structure of the disc had been replaced by disorganised fibrous tissue, and annular tears were seen. There was an initial cellular proliferative response followed by loss of chondrocytes and notochordal cells in the nucleus pulposus. Degeneration was accompanied by a decrease in the monomer size of proteoglycans. Narrowing of the disc space, endplate sclerosis and the formation of osteophytes at adjacent disc spaces were observed radiologically.




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A. G. Hadjipavlou, M. N. Tzermiadianos, N. Bogduk, and M. R. Zindrick
The pathophysiology of disc degeneration: A CRITICAL REVIEW
J Bone Joint Surg Br, October 1, 2008; 90-B(10): 1261 - 1270.
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Hip, Knee, Trauma, Upper limb, Foot & Ankle, Paediatrics, Oncology, Spine, Arthroplasty, General