This study of Schmorl 's nodes in British populations past and present attempts to reach a better understanding of the origins and aetiology of Schmorl' s nodes and their impact upon the vertebral column in relation to age, sex, pre-existing skeletal lower limb asymmetry, and work patterns. Georg Schmorl has been accepted as the leading authority on the nodes he named. Eighty years later modem diagnostic radiographic imaging and macroscopic studies are used to reach informed answers to the questions of prevalence, relationship to other degenerative joint diseases of the spine, and the possibility of Schmorl's node recognition by clinicians when presented with specific pain location. The clinical samples studied were from Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh. The archaeological samples studied were from Captain's Cabin, Dunbar, The Hirsel, Coldstream and Whithom Priory, Galloway, all in Scotland, and St. Andrew, Fishergate, York, and Tanners Row, Pontefract in England, and dated to between the 6th and 16th centuries AD. The archaeological samples were from military and monastic settlements in urban and rural contexts. Congenital disorders and acute trauma affecting the spine, and alterations to the normal primary and secondary vertebral curves were studied in an attempt to prove or disprove a relationship to Schmorl's nodes. Macroscopic study of the vertebral columns from the archaeological samples, and radiographs of the clinical samples, were analysed, along with clinical case histories and known background information of the demography, settlement type and, the geographic and topographic locations for each sample. No weak area was found in the vertebral end plate. Positive proof for symptomatic Schmorl's nodes was found in the clinical samples. The greatest numbers of Schmorl' s nodes were not formed in the first two decades of life, but in the third and fourth decades. Scheuermann's disease may be indirectly attributable to subadult Schmorl's nodes. However, Schmorl's nodes may or may not precede scoliosis. Males and females Of similar ages from the same settlements did not produce. Similar frequencies, nor were similar patterns observed between samples. Further studies using larger and better-preserved samples, with good contextual evidence may help to provide clearer positive or, negative evidence for work related Schmorl's nodes.

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Orientador : André Luiz Felix Rodacki / Inclui apêndice / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Física. Defesa: Curitiba, 2004 / Inclui bibliografia / Área de concentração: Exercício e esporte / Resumo: Este estudo analisou o comportamento mecânico da coluna vertebral sob diferentes cargas de tração (0, 30 e 60% do peso corporal). Quinze sujeitos saudáveis do sexo masculino tiveram medidas a variação de estatura a cada 7 minutos durante 42 minutos de tração. A tração foi imposta através de uma mesa pneumática, enquanto que as variações de estatura foram determinadas por meio de um estadiômetro de precisão. Os ganhos de estatura seguiram a um modelo linear. A condição de tração de 60% do peso corporal propiciou os maiores aumentos de estatura em comparação as outras condições experimentais. Todavia, tais ganhos somente foram observados a partir do 21º minuto de aplicação da tração. Após o período de tração os sujeitos permaneceram em pé e a variação de estatura foi monitorada a cada 5 minutos durante 45 minutos. Observou-se que a estatura retornou a condição inicial ao final do protocolo de forma exponencial. A análise do modelo exponencial revelou que os maiores ganhos da estatura foram obtidos na primeira metade da fase de recuperação após as cargas de 60% do peso corporal. Conclui-se que a condição de tração de 60% do peso corporal produziu os maiores ganhos na estatura em comparação às outras condições experimentais. / Abstract: This study analised the mechanical behaviour of the vertebral column under different traction loads (0, 30 and 60% body weight).Fifteen healthy male subjects had their stature variation measurements taken in intervals of 7 minutes during 42 minutes of traction. Traction was imposed in a pneumatic traction device, while stature variations were measured in a special stadiometer. The traction of 60% body weight provided the largest increases in stature in comparison to other experimental conditions. However, such gains were detected only from the 21st minute of traction application. After traction subjects were asked to remain in a standing position and stature variation was monitored each 5 minutes during 45 minutes. It was observed that the initial stature was regained at the end of the experimental protocol in an exponential profile. The analysis of the exponential model revealed that the largest gains of stature were obtained during the first part of the recovery period, after the loads of 60% body weight. It was concluded that the traction load of 60% body weight caused the largest stature gains in comparison to the other experimental conditions.