Spondylitis Traumatica Tarda (Kummell's Disease)

Abstract

THE name “Kummell's disease” has been given to a specific X-ray and symptom complex first described by Kummell in 1891 (1). Other terms include appropriate and descriptive phrases which indicate the pathologic change, the causative factor, and the characteristic delay of symptoms, namely, “post-traumatic spondylitis,” “spondylitis traumatica tarda,” and “posttraumatic vertebral collapse.” Attention is being directed to this peculiar condition by medical writers and investigators with increasing frequency in Germany, France, and in America, which may be construed as evidence that the lesion is not so rare as some surgeons and roentgenologists believe it to be. However, it is safe to say that it is an uncommon condition and that it occurs so seldom that many busy roentgenologists have never encountered a typical case, or, at least, never have been confronted with the chain of events which characterize Kummell's disease. An X-ray study of this condition reveals varying degrees of loss of bone substance of a ...