Lower ratio of adjacent to injured vertebral bone quality scores can predict augmented vertebrae recompression following percutaneous kyphoplasty for osteoporotic vertebral fractures with intravertebral clefts

Abstract Background Despite the favorable clinical outcome of percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in symptomatic osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVFs) patients with intravertebral clefts (IVCs), previous studies have demonstrated a high incidence of augmented vertebrae recompression (AVR). We aim to evaluate the usefulness of the adjacent and injured vertebral bone quality scores (VBQS) based on T1‐weighted MRI images in AVR after PKP for OVFs with IVCs. Methods Patients who underwent PKP for single OVFs with IVCs between January 2014 and September 2020 were reviewed and met the inclusion criteria. The follow‐up period was at least 2 years. Relevant data affecting AVR were collected. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to calculate the correlation between the injured and adjacent VBQS and BMD T ‐score. We determined independent risk factors and critical values using binary logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC). Results A total of 165 patients were included. Recompression group was found in 42 (25.5%) patients. The independent risk factors for AVR were lumbar BMD T ‐score (OR = 2.53, p = 0.003), the adjacent VBQS (OR = 0.79, p = 0.016), the injured VBQS (OR = 1.27, p = 0.048), the ratio of adjacent to injured VBQS (OR = 0.32, p < 0.001), and cement distribution pattern. Among these independent significant risk factors, the prediction accuracy of the ratio of adjacent to injured VBQS was the highest (Cutoff = 1.41, AUC = 0.753). Additionally, adjacent and injured VBQS were negatively correlated with lumbar BMD T ‐scores. Conclusion For the patients after PKP treatment for OVFs with IVCs, the ratio of adjacent to injured VBQS had the best prediction accuracy in predicting recompression and when the ratio of adjacent to injured VBQS was <1.41, the augmented vertebrae were more likely to have recompression in the future.