Biomechanical significance of intervertebral discs on growthplate stresses in scoliotic trunks following unilateral muscle weakening: A hybrid approach of finite element and musculoskeletal modeling.

Publisher: Wiley Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101530293 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2040-7947 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20407939 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Int J Numer Method Biomed Eng Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: [Oxford, UK] : Wiley

Finite Element Analysis* ; Intervertebral Disc*/physiopathology ; Scoliosis*/physiopathology ; Stress, Mechanical*; Humans ; Female ; Biomechanical Phenomena/physiology ; Adolescent ; Growth Plate/physiology ; Models, Biological ; Lumbar Vertebrae/physiopathology

This study aimed to ascertain the relevance of intervertebral discs (IVD) in the stress distribution on growthplates (GPs) of a trunk model with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) following a unilateral weakening of muscles. A thoracolumbar spine finite element (FE) model of a young female healthy and an AIS spine comprising GPs linked to the T12 through sacrum vertebrae. Two scenarios of including (FEI) and excluding (FEE) IVDs were considered. Then, using optimization-driven musculoskeletal models of the AIS and healthy trunks, the FE models were examined under subject-specific muscle forces and gravity loads. Results of this study demonstrate that when IVDs included in the FE model, an increase, ranging from 0.2 to 1.7 MPa, with the highest value occurring at the apex of the AIS model, in the von Mises stresses in the GPs. The ratio of 1.5 was found for the maximum von-Mises stress value on the most tilted GP in the FEI over the FEE model. Unilateral paralysis of muscles caused a reduction of 50% and 63% in the von Mises stress ratio of the concave-over-convex side of the most tilted GP in the FEI and FEE models of the AIS spine with healthy muscles, respectively. The intradiscal pressures, found for FEE and FEI models, assented to recent in-vivo investigations. Nonetheless, employing IVDs in the simulations provides an indispensable tool to anticipate the effects of neuromuscular disorders on GP stresses in an AIS spine and predict deformity progression during growth.
(© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

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Keywords: adolescent idiopathic scoliosis; finite element analysis; intervertebral disc; muscle weakening; musculoskeletal model; spine stability

Date Created: 20241015 Date Completed: 20241205 Latest Revision: 20241205

20241209

10.1002/cnm.3863

39404044