A case of spondylolisthesis, with description of the pelvis / by J. Whitridge Williams.

  • Williams J. Whitridge.
Date:
[1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A case of spondylolisthesis, with description of the pelvis / by J. Whitridge Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    ing to our experience, does not always eventuate in an olis- thesis.” One of the interesting features in connection with the deformity is that it occurs far more frequently in women than in men—and, indeed, for a long time was considered peculiar to the female sex. As we shall see when we come to consider the frequency of the affection, only 6.5 per cent, of the cases thus far described have been observed in men, and many theories have been advanced to explain this fact. In a few instances the first indication of the deformity was noted in early childhood, as in the cases of Breslau, Firnig, Von Herff, and Jellinghaus ; but in the vast majority of cases it appeared about the age of puberty, but more especially in women who have had several children. So that Olshausen suggested that the circulatory changes incident to menstrua- tion and pregnancy may possibly produce certain changes in the structure of the bones which render them less resistant. The vast majority of the cases have been observed in women who perform hard manual labor, often in the fields; and it has, therefore, been suggested that the appearance of the de- formity about the time of puberty is due to the fact that girls usually begin to wmrk hard about that time. Both of these explanations would seem to apply equally well to both sexes; while the affection occurs far more fre- quently among women. Von Herff has attempted to explain this apparent contradiction by stating that the sedentary life which is led by young girls manifests itself in a faulty development of their dorsal muscles, so that when they sud- denly begin to do hard work the vertebral column does not receive the same support as in boys, who have been accus- tomed to active exercise from early childhood. Returning once more to the consideration of our specimen, we find that its most characteristic feature is the marked lengthening and flattening of the interarticular portions of the last lumbar vertebra, so that its upper and lower articular pro- cesses, instead of being in the same vertical line, are 2 cm. apart.