title: Congenital absence of lumbar articular facets. Report of two cases.
abstract: X-ray evidence of an absent lumbar facet is usually considered to be indicative of the presence of an osteolytic bone lesion but on rate occasions may be due to a congenital anomaly. Two cases of the congenital absence of a lumbar superior articular facet suggest that this anomaly is not symptom-producing, and in one case was discovered incidentally in a patient without back pain yet led to the performance of a major surgical diagnostic operation. While, rare, a greater awareness of this condition, as clearly defined in the literature on the subject, might occasionally eliminate the need for a similar surgical procedure.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000002:abnormalities*; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography