{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T05:11:06Z","timestamp":1789017066428,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788480000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100007517","name":"NCMIC Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100007517","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01aazm409","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"CBP NonProfit, Inc."},{"name":"International Spine Research (INSPIRE) Foundation"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Clin. Med.","JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: Lumbar vertebral wedge angles reflect vertebral body geometry and may influence lordosis. Whether the total wedge index (TWI) and segmental wedge angles differ between asymptomatic individuals and chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients, and predict lordosis independently of pelvic morphology, remains unclear. Methods: Standing lateral full-spine radiographs from 72 volunteers (49 male; mean age 28.3 \u00b1 7.7 years) and 72 CLBP patients (28 male; mean age 52.0 \u00b1 17.9 years; NRS 4.5 \u00b1 2.2; pain &gt; 3 months) were digitized using a validated quadrilateral vertebral body model. L1\u2013L5 wedge angles and TWI (L1 + L2 + L3 + L4 + L5; negative = net posterior taper) were calculated. Pearson correlations, hierarchical OLS regression, and centile distributions were assessed, following STROBE guidelines. Results: In CLBP, L1 wedge was lower (3.33 \u00b1 4.32\u00b0 vs. 4.87 \u00b1 3.55\u00b0; p = 0.020; d = \u22120.39) and L5 wedge differed significantly (\u22126.50 \u00b1 6.32\u00b0 vs. \u22128.65 \u00b1 6.30\u00b0; p = 0.043; d = +0.34). TWI correlated most strongly with lordosis in volunteers (r = +0.531) and CLBP (r = +0.478; both p &lt; 0.001), and with sacral tilt in both groups. TWI added \u0394R2 = 0.183 over pelvic morphology (PTPIA) in volunteers and \u0394R2 = 0.210 in CLBP, where PTPIA alone explained &lt;2% of lordosis variance. L1 wedge was greater in males (5.27 \u00b1 3.64\u00b0 vs. 2.76 \u00b1 4.03\u00b0; p &lt; 0.001; d = 0.67). T4-HA translation did not correlate with wedge variables. In CLBP, L1 and L5 lost lordosis correlations, while L2\u2013L4 remained significant. TWI was the primary structural predictor of lumbar lordosis. Conclusions: In CLBP, the pelvic\u2013lordosis relationship is disrupted, yet TWI remains predictive (\u0394R2 = +0.210), indicating that vertebral body geometry remains linked to lordosis when pelvic morphology does not. Normative TWI centiles may support radiographic outcome measurement.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15176865","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T17:25:56Z","timestamp":1788542756000},"page":"6865","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Vertebral Body Wedge Geometry Predicts Lumbar Lordosis Beyond Pelvic Morphology in Chronic Low Back Pain"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6671-7106","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Deed E.","family":"Harrison","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"CBP Non-Profit, Inc., Eagle, ID 83616, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6381-8278","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christopher J.","family":"Colloca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Kinesiology, College of Health Solutions, INSPIRE, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3117-7330","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paul A.","family":"Oakley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Aden D.","family":"Harrison","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Kinesiology, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4859-1490","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ibrahim M.","family":"Moustafa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Neuromusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Research Group, RIMHS, University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1822","DOI":"10.1007\/s11999-009-1153-7","article-title":"Vertebral bodies or discs: Which contributes more to human-like lumbar lordosis?","volume":"468","author":"Been","year":"2010","journal-title":"Clin. Orthop. Relat. 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