Pathology

Lumbosacral and Spinopelvic Anatomy and Pathology - L5 and Upper Sacrum

Coronal section Lower Portion of L5 and the Upper Sacrum

Wolfgang Rauschning, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Professor, Clinical and Applied Anatomy and Pathology
Uppsala University Hospital
Uppsala, Sweden
Coronal section through the lower portion of L5 and the upper sacrum of a 77-year old man
Coronal section through the lower portion of L5 and the upper sacrum of a 77–year–old male with a history of occasional mild low back pain and no radicular symptoms. The L5–SI disc is completely resorbed and partially fused and a lem wide zone of sclerosis borders the endplates on both sides. Especially on the right side, sharp osteophytes at the margins of the disc project laterally and force the L5 ganglion and nerve to curve around these spondylotic ridges. The neural elements are bounded superiorly by the base of the transverse process of L5 and inferiorly by the ala of the sacrum. In the upper sacrum the wide (pelvine =anterior) foramina are almost completely occupied by the voluminous SI ganglia. The white horizontal line between the SI foramina represents the vestige of the SI –S2 disc.

©2000 Wolfgang Rauschning, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Clinical Anatomy
Academic University Hospital
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Uppsala, Sweden
Reproduction without permission is prohibited
http://www.akademiska.se/
Last Updated: 07/29/2004
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