Table 4. Vertebral body and intervertebral disc (IVD) morphology and IVD health outcomes in runners (n = 9) and controls (n = 8) by lumbar level.

	Runners (n = 9)	Control (n = 8)	P-value
Vertebral body height, mm
L2-L3	26.8 (1.0)	28.0 (1.0)	0.284
L3-L4	26.6 (1.3)	27.4 (1.6)	0.074
L4-L5	26.7 (1.6)	28.2 (1.3)	0.319
L5-S1	27.5 (1.1)	28.3 (1.9)	0.072
IVD height, mm
L2-L3	8.3 (0.7)	6.8 (0.7)	<0.001
L3-L4	8.7 (1.0)	6.4 (0.8)	0.009
L4-L5	8.6 (1.0)	7.0 (0.9)	0.122
L5-S1	8.5 (1.4)	7.4 (1.0)	0.108
IVD-vertebral body height ratio
L2-L3	0.33 (0.04)	0.23 (0.02)	<0.001
L3-L4	0.32 (0.05)	0.25 (0.03)	0.009
L4-L5	0.31 (0.06)	0.26 (0.04)	0.085
L5-S1	0.28 (0.05)	0.22 (0.04)	0.043
IVD T2-time, ms
Total
L2-L3	101.2 (13.6)	93.1 (26.6)	0.479
L3-L4	95.1 (13.9)	89.6 (26.8)	0.629
L4-L5	83.9 (12.2)	85.7 (32.7)	0.888
L5-S1	85.1 (14.8)	78.8 (14.9)	0.471
Anterior annulus
L2-L3	74.8 (8)	76.7 (18.9)	0.807
L3-L4	73.0 (5.8)	75.6 (17.1)	0.703
L4-L5	73.0 (6.8)	74.5 (22.1)	0.855
L5-S1	71.9 (9.3)	76.1 (21)	0.627
Anterior nucleus
L2-L3	97.0 (13.3)	90.0 (26.4)	0.536
L3-L4	94.0 (15.9)	87.3 (21.6)	0.529
L4-L5	82.7 (15.1)	85.6 (33.5)	0.836
L5-S1	82.5 (19.2)	74.2 (15.4)	0.429
Centre nucleus
L2-L3	115.1 (19.3)	101.6 (28.3)	0.324
L3-L4	109.1 (17.4)	96.9 (29.3)	0.361
L4-L5	91.3 (15.0)	91.9 (37.0)	0.970
L5-S1	91.4 (21.3)	79.6 (16.4)	0.313
Posterior nucleus
L2-L3	112.6 (18.3)	97.2 (29.2)	0.261
L3-L4	99.9 (18.6)	93.0 (29.6)	0.612
L4-L5	86.1 (16.0)	87.9 (36.8)	0.906
L5-S1	88.7 (15.5)	78.3 (12.6)	0.234
Posterior annulus
L2-L3	79.8 (8.4)	78.6 (20.2)	0.881
L3-L4	77.8 (7.9)	77.1 (23.6)	0.939
L4-L5	75.3 (5.9)	73.5 (19.7)	0.817
L5-S1	80.8 (6.5)	83.3 (15.7)	0.690
Pfirrmann, grade (1–5)
L2-L3	1.7 (0.5)	2.3 (0.7)	0.066
L3-L4	1.9 (0.6)	2.3 (0.5)	0.190
L4-L5	2.1 (0.8)	2.3 (1.0)	0.758
L5-S1	2.2 (0.7)	3.3 (1.0)	0.026

Data are mean (standard deviation) by lumbar level.