Abstract Body

Introduction:

Low back pain is common in clinical practice and one of the main reasons for medical consultation. The etiology is diverse: from physical effort and bad posture to structural spinal anomaly and inflammatory or systemic diseases.

Transitional vertebra (VT) is an anomalous vertebra, which results from a congenital anomaly and can occur at the transition from the cervicodorsal, dorsolumbar or lumbosacral spine.

Description of the Clinical Case:

53-year-old woman, married, Duvall cycle phase VI, with no relevant medical history. Consulted the primary care physician for mechanical low back pain without radiation to the lower limbs. A x-ray of the lumbar spine reported “Dorsolumbar transitional vertebra (on the right an intact hypoplastic vertebra and on the left a fractured hypoplastic vertebra) and a lumbosacral transitional vertebra, which presents a right transverse megapophysis and it’s neoarticular to the sacrum, with a reduction in the amplitude of the intersomatic space”. The patient was treated with analgesic treatment.

Discussion / Conclusion:

A lumbar spine radiography identified the cause of this patient’s symptoms. The treatment of VT is usually conservative and surgery is reserved for specific cases.

The lumbosacral transitional vertebra occurs with a significant prevalence (4-35%) and should be considered in the etiology of lower back pain. Its study can be bypassed if there is clinical improvement with medical treatment. Nonetheless imaging exams should be considered for the identification of these findings. In this clinical case, besides finding the probable cause of lower back pain, a dorsolumbar vertebrae was also identified, a rare finding.