Dissolution of the intervertebral disk in the aged normal; the phantom nucleus pulposus.

Abstract

Disorganization of the intervertebral disk occurs in association with other degenerative changes, but the peculiar “vacuum-like” spaces in the roentgenogram, which are seen as globules in the area of the nucleus or as dispersed radiolucent streaks in the intervertebral space, are not generally given particular attention as a phase of such degenerative processes. We have described these changes previously as the “phantom nucleus pulposus” (1), and Magnusson (4) and Knutsson (3) have referred to them as intervertebral vacuum phenomena. The condition is one in which there is a loss of nuclear substance without tissue or fluid replacement, leading to the appearance of the empty space or “vacuum” easily recognized in the roentgenogram. More attention to its incidence and character might possibly lead to a better understanding of desiccating tendencies in aging tissues. This report is concerned with these changes as they appeared in a group of 130 aged normals. Method and Results Bone survey examinations were m...