Butterfly vertebra - S1

Case contributed by Henry Knipe
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Low back pain.

Patient Data

Age: 80 years
Gender: Male
x-ray

Lucent defect with sclerotic edges in the central portion of S1. Multilevel degenerative discs and facet joints. 

mri

Five lumbar type vertebrae. Incidental S1 butterfly vertebra with a small paraspinous cleft. 

 

Multilevel degenerative discs and facet joints most significantly result in severe L2-3 and L3-4 spinal canal stenosis with proximal cauda equina redundancy. 

Case Discussion

This is an example of an S1 butterfly vertebra, a.k.a. sagittal cleft vertebra, with disc material filling a space left by notochord remnant and failed chondral center fusion.

How to use cases

You can use Radiopaedia cases in a variety of ways to help you learn and teach.

Creating your own cases is easy.

Updating… Please wait.

 Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

 Thank you for updating your details.