Bone microarchitecture and metabolism in elderly male patients with signs of intravertebral cleft on MRI

Objectives Intravertebral cleft (IVC) is a common but not unique imaging manifestation in Kümmell’s disease. To date, great controversy exists regarding the specific mechanisms of IVC. In this study, we aimed to investigate the characteristics of microarchitecture and metabolism in patients with IVC and to analyse the correlations between degree of vertebral collapse and risk factors. Methods A total of 79 elderly men were included in this study. We divided all patients into two groups: the IVC group (30 patients) and the non-IVC group (49 patients). We compared the differences in microarchitecture and bone turnover marker (BTM) serum concentrations between the groups and analysed risk factors affecting vertebral collapse by using the Mann–Whitney U test and Spearman’s correlation test. Results Quantitative analysis of the microarchitecture showed higher content of necrotic bone ( p