Spectral CT electron density for evaluation of lumbar intervertebral disk degeneration
Masanori Nakajo, Tsubasa Nakano, Tomohito Hasegawa, Kiyohisa Kamimura, Koji Takumi, Hiroaki Nagano,Masatoyo Nakajo, Hiroyuki Tominaga, Mutsukazu Hayashi, Takashi Iwanaga, Fumiko Kanzaki, Eran Langzam, Graeme Campbell, Ko Higuchi, Takashi Yoshiura
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the ability of spectral CT parameters to evaluate lumbar intervertebral disk degeneration (LIDD).
Introduction
Lumbar intervertebral disk degeneration is the most prevalent cause of low back pain [1,2], and it causes herniated disk disease, lumbar degenerative spondylosis, and lumbar spinal canal stenosis [3].
The intervertebral disk is centrally and peripherally composed of the nucleus pulposus (NP) and the annulus fibrosus (AF), respectively.
Materials and methods
The institutional review board approved this retrospective study under protocol number 200284 and waived the need to obtain informed consent because of the retrospective study design. The data used in this study were accessed on 19 March 2021 for research purposes. We accessed the data that had been appropriately anonymized to ensure the privacy of individual participants.
Results
The final population included 338 lumbar intervertebral disks of 100 patients (mean age, 58.5 ± 20.0 years; range, 10–89 years, 55 men and 45 women) (Table 1).
Discussion
Low back pain is a symptom afflicting individuals globally, and one of the primary causes of low back pain is lumbar intervertebral disk degeneration. MRI is the predominant diagnostic tool for lumbar intervertebral disk degeneration, and the etiology of low back pain is multifaceted, making the identification of its cause difficult with only MRI.
Conclusion
we revealed the use of spectral CT parameters, especially ED, in assessing lumbar intervertebral disk degeneration. Our results may expand the role of CT in screening the cause of low back pain, potentially guiding more effective treatment strategies.
Citation: Nakajo M, Nakano T, Hasegawa T, Kamimura K, Takumi K, Nagano H, et al. (2026) Spectral CT electron density for evaluation of lumbar intervertebral disk degeneration. PLoS One 21(9): e0357658. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357658
Editor: Ali Fathi Jouzdani, IPM: Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF
Received: April 22, 2025; Accepted: August 20, 2026; Published: September 1, 2026
Copyright: © 2026 Nakajo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting information files.
Funding: This study was supported by grants from the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) [Grant Number 21K15830]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests except employment by Philips Healthcare (Eran Langzam, Graeme Campbell and Ko Higuchi). The Kagoshima University Department of Radiology received the technical support from Philips Healthcare.
