title: Case report: imaging findings in a "butterfly" vertebra.
abstract: A "butterfly" vertebra is a rare congenital anomaly, presenting as a sagittal cleft in the vertebral body. In the literature it has been described as an isolated finding, but it can also be associated with various syndromes, such as Alagille, Jarcho-Levin, Crouzon and Pfeiffer syndrome. We present a case of a 35-year old man with chronic low back pain. The diagnosis of a butterfly vertebra of S1 with disc space narrowing of L5-S1 was made. Usually the abnormality occurs at the thoracolumbar spine and we are not aware of a description of a sacral butterfly vertebra. Although a butterfly vertebra is usually asymptomatic, it could lead to discal herniation or chronic back pain due to alteration in spinal biomechanics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, UZ Brussel, Jette, Belgium.
authors.forename: Cedric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boulet
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schiettecatte
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Mey
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Maeseneer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000002:abnormalities*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed