Study design: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 196 adults (98 men and 98 women), aged between 18 and 91 years.
Objective: To examine whether vertebral hemangiomas (VHs) are associated with other spinal pathologies, metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and past trauma, to shed light on their possible pathophysiology.
Summary of background data: VHs are the most common form of benign tumors in the spine. Their association with spinal and systemic pathologies has not yet been systematically studied.
Methods: Clinical data were gathered from full spine CT scans and medical records.
Results: VHs were significantly associated with disc lesions (P = 0.004), past trauma (P = 0.037), diabetes (χ = 5.179, P = 0.023), cardio-vascular diseases (χ = 8.625, P = 0.003), and cancer (χ = 5.820, P = 0.016), but not with obesity. Only medium-large size VHs were significantly associated with osteoporosis (χ = 6.695, P = 0.010).
Conclusion: The pattern of diseases related to VHs suggests a common cause for VH, namely, a disruption of vascular flow in the microvessels (accompanied by endothelium damage) within the vertebral body, eventually resulting in hypervascularization.
Level of evidence: 4.