[Extensive bony condensation of the vertebrae in intervertebral disc degeneration. (Study of 25 cases)].

The authors report 25 cases of extensive bony condensation of the vertebrae due to degeneration of the intervertebral discs, giving on lateral XRay a dome-shaped or helmet-shaped appearance. 19 cases occurred in women. Two-thirds of the patients were aged between 35 and 55 years, with an average of 45 years. The lesions were lumbar in 21 patients. They affected in 20 cases two adjacent vertebrae. All the clinical, radiological, pathological and discographic findings, together with the course, confirmed the degenerative origin of these bony condensations, the pathogenesis of which is still not perfectly understood.