Degenerative diseases of the vertebral column

Abstract

Several distinct degenerative processes affect the articulations of the vertebral column; each is associated with characteristic radiographic and pathologic abnormalities, and many are accompanied by significant clinical manifestations. A discussion of these processes is best accomplished according to the type of joint that is involved. With regard to cartilaginous articulations, of which the intervertebral disk is most important, intervertebral (osteo)chondrosis, spondylosis deformans, and, in the cervical spine, uncovertebral arthrosis are the major degenerative disorders. Osteoarthritis (osteoarthrosis) affects any of the synovium-lined joints of the vertebral column, including the apophyseal, costovertebral, transitional lumbosacral, median atlantoaxial, and sacroiliac articulations. Fibrous articulations, ligaments, or entheses (sites of tendon or ligament attachment to bone) are involved in diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, ossification of the posterior spinal ligaments, and Baastrup disease. Of the many complications of these degenerative processes, alignment abnormalities (including segmental instability, degenerative spondylolisthesis, senile kyphosis, and degenerative scoliosis), intervertebral disk displacement, calcification or ossification, and spinal stenosis are the most important.