Kummell's disease is a form of delayed, posttraumatic collapse of the vertebral body. In 1891, Kummell reported a delayed posttraumatic vertebral collapse that occurred weeks or even months after an injury. Many underlying mechanisms, including traumatic, nutritional, vasomotor, and neurologic, have been suggested as causative factors.
Prior lateral (6 wks ago)
Prior frontal (6 wks ago)
Lateral
Frontal
Kummell's disease is a form of delayed, posttraumatic collapse of the vertebral body. In 1891, Kummell reported a delayed posttraumatic vertebral collapse that occurred weeks or even months after an injury. Many underlying mechanisms, including traumatic, nutritional, vasomotor, and neurologic, have been suggested as causative factors. At present, the most widely accepted mechanism for Kummell's disease is osteonecrosis. Maldague and coworkers noted the association between vertebral body ischemia and the presence of gas within the vertebral body, also known as the intravertebral vacuum cleft. These authors suggested that the basis for Kummell's disease may be ischemia associated with the episode of trauma, which leads to osteonecrosis and delayed collapse of the vertebral body. Although Kummell himself did not note the vacuum cleft sign, evidence exists that osteonecrosis probably is the mechanism accounting for delayed posttraumatic vertebral collapse. Almost all reported cases of intravertebral vacuum clefts occur in noninfectious and non-neoplastic conditions.
Suggested reading:
Maldague BE, Noel HM, Malghem JJ: The intravertebral vacuum cleft: A sign of ischemic vertebral collapse. Radiology 129:23, 1978.
Brower AC, Downey E Jr: Kummell disease: Report of a case with serial radiographs. Radiology 141:363, 1981.
Resnik D, eds. Diagnosis of Bone and Joint Disorders. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders, 2002.
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