Relationship between the properties of paraspinal muscles and bone mineral density in patients with lumbar disc herniation

Paraspinal muscles and vertebral bodies are important to maintain spinal stability. Muscles and bones are functional tissues that interact with each other. We investigated the relationship between the properties of paraspinal muscles obtained from MR imaging and bone mineral density of vertebral bodies measured from quantitative CT in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Our results showed that the fat fraction of paraspinal muscles was negatively correlated with bone mineral density of vertebral bodies in LDH patients, and the fat fraction of multifidus muscle at the L3/L4 lumbar disc level may be the optimal predictor of bone mineral density changes.