• Gali Dar, Smadar Peleg, Youssef Masharawi, Nili Steinberg, Hila May, and Israel Hershkovitz.
• Department of Physical Therapy, Haifa University, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel. galidar@yahoo.com
• Spine. 2009 Apr 20; 34 (9): E312E315E312-5.

Study DesignA descriptive study of the association between Schmorl nodes (SNs) and gender, ethnic origin, and age in a normal skeletal population.ObjectivesTo gain reliable data on behavioral patterns of SNs in various human groups shedding light on its etiology.Summary Of Background DataOpinions regarding SNs prevalence in human populations vary greatly (from 5% to 70%). This caveat greatly reduced our ability to recognize the etiology of the phenomenon and understand its clinical significance.MethodsTwo hundred forty human skeleton vertebrae (T4-L5) from a normal adult population (divided by gender, ethnicity, and age) were examined for SNs. SNs were defined as depressions with sclerotic margins appearing on the vertebral body surface.ResultsOne hundred sixteen individuals (48.3%) of the 240 studied manifested SNs along their thoracolumbar spine. SNs are age independent and gender and ethnicity dependent, are significantly more common in males (54.2%) versus females (43%) and more common in European-Americans (60.3%) versus African-Americans (36.7%).ConclusionSNs are a common phenomenon in the normal adult populations with almost half of the individuals in our sample manifesting at least 1 vertebra with SN. Its demographic characteristics suggest that the phenomenon is not of occupational origin, promoting the notion of genetic background.

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