The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American). 2008;90:656-671.
© 2008 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Letters to the Editor: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hu, S. S.
Right arrow Articles by Ghanayem, A. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hu, S. S.
Right arrow Articles by Ghanayem, A. J.
Related Collections
Right arrow Instructional Course
Right arrow Spine
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Technorati  
What's this?

Spondylolisthesis and Spondylolysis

Serena S. Hu, MD1, Clifford B. Tribus, MD2, Mohammad Diab, MD1 and Alexander J. Ghanayem, MD3

1 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 500 Parnassus Avenue, Room MU 320W, San Francisco, CA 94143
2 Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitative Medicine, University of Wisconsin, K4/746 Clinical Science Center, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792
3 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Loyola University Chicago, 2160 South 1st Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153
An Instructional Course Lecture, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.


   Introduction
 
The term "spondylolisthesis" refers to slipping, or olisthesis, of a vertebra ("spondylos" in Greek) relative to an adjacent vertebra. The term "spondylolysis" refers to dissolution of, or a defect in, the pars interarticularis of a vertebra. To these original terms has been added "spondyloptosis," from the Greek "ptosis" (falling off or down) to indicate a vertebra that is completely or essentially completely dislocated.

There are five types of spondylolisthesis: dysplastic, isthmic, degenerative, traumatic, and pathologic1. In the dysplastic type, facet joints allow anterior translation of one vertebra on another. Because the neural arch of the olisthetic vertebra is intact, it can compress the cauda equina as it translates. This type accounts for the only reported case of spondylolisthesis at birth2. "Isthmic" is from the Greek, meaning narrow. The isthmic type involves a lesion of the pars interarticularis (the narrow part of bone between the superior and inferior articular . . . [Full Text of this Article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?