Lumbosacral transitional anomaly- a case report

One of the most common congenital anomalies of the human spine is lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (LSTV). In LSTV, the presentation can either be the transverse process of last lumbar vertebra (L5) fusing with the sacrum on one side or both or to ilium or both (sacralisation of lumbar vertebra), or the first sacral vertebra fusing with the last lumbar vertebra (lumbarisation of sacral vertebra),both of which could be in ‘complete’ or ‘incomplete’ forms, either unilateral or bilateral. These anomalies are one of the causes of low back pain and such an occurrence has to be borne in mind during spinal surgery. During routine osteology classes for the medical students at Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College, Pondicherry, two of the sacra showed fusion of the fifth lumbar vertebra with the sacrum. In one, the transverse process of the last lumbar vertebra showed fusion with sacrum on both sides and in the other the transverse process of the last lumbar vertebra showed fusion with sacrum only on left side. The clinical implications of such variations are discussed.