Introduction: It was hypothesized that pelvic retroversion in Adult Spinal Deformity (ASD) can be related to an increased hip loading explaining the occurrence of hip-spine syndrome.
Research question: How pelvic retroversion can modify acetabular orientation in ASD during walking?
Methods: 89 primary ASD and 37 controls underwent 3D gait analysis and full-body biplanar X-rays. Classic spinopelvic parameters were calculated from 3D skeletal reconstructions in addition to acetabular anteversion, abduction, tilt, and coverage. Then, 3D bones were registered on each gait frame to compute the dynamic value of the radiographic parameters during walking. ASD patients having a high PT were grouped as ASD-highPT, otherwise as ASD-normPT. Control group was divided in: C-aged and C-young, age matched to ASD-hightPT and ASD-normPT respectively.
Results: 25/89 patients were classified as ASD-highPT having a radiographic PT of 31° (vs 12° in other groups, p < 0.001). On static radiograph, ASD-highPT showed more severe postural malalignment than the other groups: ODHA = 5°, L1L5 = 17°, SVA = 57.4 mm (vs 2°, 48° and 5 mm resp. in other groups,all p < 0.001). During gait, ASD-highPT presented a higher dynamic pelvic retroversion of 30° (vs 15° in C-aged), along with a higher acetabular anteversion of 24° (vs 20°), external coverage of 38° (vs 29°) and a lower anterior coverage of 52° (vs 58°,all p < 0.05).
Conclusion: ASD patients with severe pelvic retroversion showed an increased acetabular anteversion, external coverage and lower anterior coverage during gait. These changes in acetabular orientation, computed during walking, were shown to be related to hip osteoarthritis.
Keywords: Adult spinal deformity; Biomechanics; Gait analysis; Hip; Spine.
© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe, EANS, the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies.