Is the iliolumbar ligament a reliable identifier of the L5 vertebra in lumbosacral transitional anomalies?

摘要

Objective Sufficiently sized studies to determine the value of the iliolumbar ligament (ILL) as an identifier of the L5 vertebra in cases of a lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LSTV) are lacking.Methods Seventy-one of 770 patients with LSTV (case group) and 62 of 611 subjects without LSTV with confirmed L5 level were included. Two independent radiologists using coronal MR images documented the level(s) of origin of the ILL. The interobserver agreement was analysed using weighted kappa/kappa (wk/k) and a Fischer's exact test to assess the value of the ILL as an identifier of the L5 vertebra.