Estimated number of patients by age used to inform prevalence of degenerative spine imaging findings in asymptomatic patientsa
| Imaging Finding | Age (yr) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | |
| Disk degeneration | 273 (9) | 604 (16) | 415 (12) | 311 (10) | 80 (4) | 20 (2) | 19 (2) |
| Disk signal loss | 46 (2) | 142 (5) | 352 (4) | 73 (2) | 35 (1) | 15 (1) | 14 (1) |
| Disk height loss | 15 (1) | 163 (5) | 186 (5) | 208 (5) | 35 (1) | 15 (1) | 14 (1) |
| Disk bulge | 55 (4) | 101 (7) | 151 (8) | 123 (7) | 66 (5) | 24 (3) | 22 (3) |
| Disk protrusion | 87 (5) | 468 (14) | 490 (14) | 363 (12) | 86 (5) | 19 (2) | 17 (2) |
| Annular fissure | 167 (5) | 350 (5) | 426 (7) | 53 (3) | 35 (3) | 15 (1) | 14 (1) |
| Facet degeneration | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 596 (3) | 53 (3) | 35 (3) | 15 (1) | 14 (1) |
| Spondylolisthesis | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 31 (1) | 53 (1) | 35 (1) | 15 (1) | 14 (1) |
↵a The number of studies are in parentheses.