Butterfly vertebra. A case report and a short review of the literature

Anatomy and clinical significance of sacral variations: a systematic review

“…Butterfly vertebra or sagittal cleft vertebra is a rare congenital abnormality, which is characterised by flawed convergence of the chondrification centres of the vertebral body during embryogenesis [49]. Very few cases of butterfly vertebra have been reported throughout international literature and only two cases refer to sacral vertebrae alone; Boulet et al [16] were the first to report a novel case of S1 sagittal cleft vertebra occurring with space narrowing at L5-S1 level, while Kapetanakis et al [47] described a case of S1 butterfly vertebra with dorsal projection of the hemivertebrae within the sacral canal, causing stenosis of the left lateral recess and compression of left S1 nerve root.…”

Sacral butterfly vertebrae in the setting of a sacral fracture and unstable pelvic ring injury: A case report and review of the literature

“…The first reported case of an S1 butterfly vertebra was discovered by Brasili in the Frassetto osteological collection and belonged to an otherwise healthy 36 year old female [ 3 ]. The second was reported by Kapentanakis in a 40 year old female with sciatica resulting from stenosis caused by the butterfly vertebrae [ 5 ]. The third case occurred in a 35 year old male with low back pain and was treated conservatively [ 6 ].…”

“…Although butterfly vertebrae occur as part of several syndromes such as Alagille syndrome, Crouzon syndrome and Pfeiffers syndrome, incidental butterfly vertebrae are rare with only scattered reports throughout the literature [ 2 ]. There have only been eight previous reports of a butterfly vertebra occurring at S1 most of which occurred as part of the syndrome known as spondylocostal dysostosis [ [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] ]. Our case describes an incidental finding of a scaral butterfly vertebra in a patient with a Denis zone 1 sacral fracture with superior and inferior rami fractures (AO/OTA 61-C1.3).…”

Butterfly vertebra: Congenital variant

“…2 A systematic literature review of recent cases found most patients presented in young adults with back pain. 3 Isolated butterfly vertebra are rare.…”

“…Butterfly formation of vertebra can be part of syndromic diseases such as Pfeiffer, Jarcho-Levin, Crouzon or Alagille; or associated by additional spinal anomalies such as intervertebral bars, supernumerary lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida, diastematomyelia, kyphosis/scoliosis or kyphoscoliosis. 3…”