Volume 27, Issue 6 (Iran South Med J 2025)                   Iran South Med J 2025, 27(6): 444-453 | Back to browse issues page


XML Persian Abstract Print


Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:

Hanafi M G, Fazelinejad Z, Hoseini Siahi M, Mansouri A. Investigation of the Role of Schmorl’s Nodes in Lumbar Disc Degeneration in Pa-tients with Low Back Pain (Ahvaz, 2022–2023). Iran South Med J 2025; 27 (6) :444-453
URL: http://ismj.bpums.ac.ir/article-1-2171-en.html
1- Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
2- Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran , maryamhs7091@yahoo.com
3- Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Abstract:   (187 Views)
Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a common condition, affecting approximately 637 million people worldwide. One possible contributing factor to LBP is the presence of Schmorl's nodes. The present study aimed to investigate the association between Schmorl's nodes and degenerative changes in the lumbar intervertebral discs in MRI scans of patients with LBP.
Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 160 adult patients with LBP and radiologically confirmed intervertebral disc degenerative changes.
Results: The study sample comprised equal numbers of male and female patients, with a mean age of 21.54 years. The prevalence of Schmorl's nodes was higher in men and showed a significant association with degeneration grading, disc herniation (P=0.003), and Modic changes (MC) (P<0.001). Additionally, Schmorl's nodes were significantly associated with vertebrae L1, L2, L3, L5, and S1, but not with L4 (P=0.45). Weight was also related to Schmorl's nodes (P=0.04), and this relationship was confirmed with age, height, gender and body mass index (BMI). In the multivariate regression model, age, gender and weight remained significantly associated with the presence of Schmorl's nodes (P=0.001).
Conclusion: Schmorl's nodes are significantly associated with lumbar disc degeneration grading, disc herniation, Modic changes (MC) and weight. Additionally, their prevalence was higher in men and was correlated with age, height, and BMI. Further studies with larger sample sizes are recommended to confirm and expand upon these findings.
Full-Text [PDF 487 kb]   (73 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Original | Subject: Radiology
Received: 2025/03/1 | Accepted: 2025/05/26 | Published: 2025/07/22

References
1. Ullah I, Saleem S, Usman A. Association between schmorl’s nodes and endplate angulation in patients undergoing for lumber spine magnetic resonance imaging. Medical and Life Sciences 2022; 1(2): 14-24. [Article]
2. Ristolainen L, Kettunen JA, Danielson H, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging findings of the lumbar spine, back symptoms and physical function among male adult patients with Scheuermann's disease. J Orthop 2020; 4(21): 69-74. [DOI]
3. Din RU, Cheng X, Yang H. Diagnostic role of magnetic resonance imaging in low back pain caused by vertebral endplate degeneration. J Magn Reson Imaging 2022; 55(3): 755-71. [DOI]
4. Pietrok A, Lee Ch, Kaye RJ, et al. Schmorl’s Node: An Uncommon Case of Back Pain and Radiculopathy. Orthop Rev (Pavia) 2022; 14(3): 33641. [DOI]
5. Alaziz M, Talib SI. Schmorl’s Node as Cause of a Back Pain: Case Report. Ann Clin Case Rep 2021; 6(1): 1953. [DOI]
6. Atçı AG, Atçı İB. The Analysis of the Frequency of Schmorl’s Nodes on the Base of Modic Degeneration as Seen on the Lumbar Magnetic Resonance Imagings of the Cases with Lumbar Pain. Istanbul Med J 2020; 21(5): 333-36. [DOI]
7. Bakr KI, Sadiq IM, Nooruldeen SA. Lumbosacral MRI Findings in Chronic Lower Back Pain. Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development 2020; 11(1): 1206-11.10. [Article]
8. Hershkovich O, Koch JE, Grevitt MP. Schmorl node- a cause of acute thoracic pain: a case report and pathophysiological mechanism. Int J Spine Surg 2020; 14(3): 441-46. [DOI]
9. Nikitha M. Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Evaluation of Degenerative Changes of Lumbar Spine [Dissertation]. India: Rajiv Gandhi Unive; 2020. [Article]
10. Teraguchi M, Hashizume H, Oka H, et al. Prevalence and distribution of Schmorl node and endplate signal change, and correlation with disc degeneration in a population-based cohort: the Wakayama Spine Study. Eur Spine J 2024; 33(1): 103-10. [DOI]
11. Abbas J, Hamoud K, Peled N, et al. Lumbar Schmorl's Nodes and Their Correlation with Spine Configuration and Degeneration. Biomed Res Int 2018; 1574020. [DOI]
12. Williams FM, Manek NJ, Sambrook PN, et al. Schmorl's nodes: common, highly heritable, and related to lumbar disc disease. Arthritis Care & Research 2007; 57(5): 855-60. [DOI]
13. Yin R, Lord EL, Cohen JR, et al. Distribution of Schmorl nodes in the lumbar spine and their relationship with lumbar disk degeneration and range of motion. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2015; 40(1): E49-53. [DOI]
14. Kyere KA, Than KD, Wang AC, et al. Schmorl’s nodes. Eur Spine J 2012; 21(11): 2115-21. [DOI]
15. Mattei TA, Rehman AA. Schmorl's nodes: current pathophysiological, diagnostic, and therapeutic paradigms. Neurosurg Rev 2014; 37(1): 39-46. [DOI]
16. Sadiq IM. Lumbar spine Schmorl's nodes; prevalence in adults with back pain, and their relation to vertebral endplate degeneration. Egypt J Radiol Nucl Med 2019; 50(1): 65. [DOI]
17. Ekşi MŞ, Turgut VU, Berikol G, et al. Schmorl’s nodes could be associated with intervertebral disc degeneration at upper lumbar levels and end-plate disease at lower lumbar level in patients with low back pain. J Clin Neurosci 2022; 100: 66-74. [DOI]
18. Dar G, Peleg S, Masharawi Y, et al. Demographical aspects of Schmorl nodes: a skeletal study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2009; 34(9): E312-15. [DOI]
19. Owlia M, Farahifard P. Historical Schmorl’s node: time to differentiation and renaming (a mini-review). Journal of Spine 2013; 1-3. [DOI]
20. Moustarhfir M, Bresson B, Koch P, et al. MR imaging of Schmorl's nodes: Imaging characteristics and epidemio-clinical relationships. Diagnostic and interventional imaging 2016; 97(4): 411-17. [DOI]
21. Sonne-Holm S, Jacobsen S, Rovsing H, et al. The epidemiology of Schmorl’s nodes and their correla-tion to radiographic degeneration in 4,151 subjects. Eur Spine J 2013; 22(8): 1907-12. [DOI]

Send email to the article author


Rights and Permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

© 2025 CC BY-NC 4.0 | Iranian South Medical Journal

Designed & Developed by: Yektaweb