Spontaneous anterior fusion of vertebral bodies.

Bony fusion ofthe anterior part oftwo vertebral bodies is occasionally noted in radiographs of the adult spine, and is usually interpreted as a congenital abnormality or the result of previous infection. It is the author’s belief that it is more commonly a rare manifestation of Scheuermann’s vertebral osteochondritis. The essential lesion in vertebral osteochondritis is the escape of intervertebral disc tissues by herniation through the cartilage end-plate of the vertebral bodies into the underlying bone. These herniations may be small, when they are often multiple, or very large, in which case they are often single. The largest occur in the lumbar spine, where they take the form of a massive herniation of disc substance into the anterior part of the vertebral body through a