Butterfly vertebra anomaly: A case report

Abstract

Butterfly vertebra is an uncommon congenital spinal anomaly. Only a small number of cases with butterfly vertebra have thus far been reported in the literature.

We herewith describe a 32-year-old male admitted to our clinic with low back pain. He has been suffering from low back pain since early adolescence. Radiologic investigations confirmed presence of butterfly vertebra at Lumbar(L)2 level and L3-4, L4-5 posterior disc protrusion and slight osteoarthritic changes in lumbar spine which proved to be a coincidental finding along with nonspecific low back pain. Routine examination of the motor and sensory system was found to be normal. Hematologic evaluation was made to rule out pathologic causes of anterior wedging of the vertebra like infections and metastases in the spine.

Butterfly vertebra anomaly is considered to be incidental and usually asymptomatic. Awareness of this anomaly is important for correct diagnosis, while its imaging features may be confused with traumatic compression fracture, or with a pathologic fracture. Also, this spinal anomaly may be associated with many syndromes. This taken into account, all the necessary investigations should be carried out for purposes of achieving a correct diagnosis.