Classification of the Sagittal Profile of the Spine in Asymptomatic Elderly Subjects

Summary

Principal aim The main purpose of the study is to describe the distribution of the sagittal profile in elderly subjects in order to bridge the gap present in this type of screening, evaluated in the literature for adults only (i.e. 160 subjects considered by Roussouly et al. in 2005). This classification assigns an integer value from 1 to 4 in relation to the evaluation of alignment of the lumbar spine and pelvis in the sagittal plane. The population description is therefore divided into four categories. The extension of this classification to elderly can provide useful support for the clinical evaluation and the specific treatment of the elderly patients.

Secondary aims The study aims in addition to evaluate the relation between the spine sagittal profile and the objective indexes obtained from the assessment of fall-risk and gait cycle analysis. Accordingly, a subgroup of 40 subjects out of the 160 will be evaluated. This subgroup will consider the subjects older than or equal to 74 years, where the risk of falling is most likely to be expected.

Conditions

• Aged
• Asymptomatic Condition

Interventions

RADIATION

X-ray examination

Radiological examination of frontal and lateral planes, simultaneously acquired with low dose X-ray system (EOS system, France) in one single exposition. The evaluation of the radiographic images will be performed by an orthopedic physician.Image processing will be performed by a biomedical engineer through sterEOS proprietary software and will provide the anatomical parameters needed to classify the sagittal profile.

OTHER

fall-risk assessment

This evaluation will be performed after the radiographic scan, in the same day. The fall-risk assessment test will be performed by a biomedical engineer through OAK device (OAK, Khymeia, Italy). The OAK device integrates two force plates and sensory elastic straps applied to pelvis and limbs. This test, which takes approximately twenty minutes, accounts eight consecutive postural equilibrium exercises and provide the automatic detection of subject's postural parameters. At the end of the test, the fall-risk rating is automatically assigned.

OTHER

gait cycle analysis

This assessment will be performed in the same session of fall-risk evaluation. The gait cycle analysis, which takes approximately forty minutes, will be executed by a biomedical engineer. Adhesive passive reflective markers will be placed on the skin according to a protocol suitable to characterize the alignment of lower limbs and trunk. The markers trajectories during walk will be recorded by an eight cameras optoelectronic system (BTS smart-D, Italy). A force platform (Kistler, Switzerland) placed in the middle of the pathway will detect the forces exchanged with the ground. The data analysis will provide the kinematic and kinetic descriptive parameters of gait cycle.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• I.R.C.C.S Ospedale Galeazzi-Sant'Ambrogio

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Marco Brayda-Bruno, MD · IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

SCREENING

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-06-14

Primary Completion

2019-04-03

Completion

2019-04-03

Countries

• Italy

Study Locations