On the Incidence of the Sacralized Transverse Process and Its Significance

High assimilation of the sacrum in a sample of American skeletons: Prevalence, pelvic size, and obstetrical and evolutionary implications

“…However, the principal explanation for the differences among samples in the prevalence of high assimilation is likely definitional. Some researchers classify individuals as having high assimilation (or lumbosacral transitional vertebra) if there is distinctive enlargement of the transverse process of the terminal lumbar vertebra (Splithoff, 1953;Tini et al, 1977), or nearthrosis between lumbar and sacral vertebrae (Moore, 1924;Cushway and Maier, 1929;Allbrook, 1955), or limited ventral curvature of a five segment sacrum (Kirchhoff, 1949;Kirchhoff and Krä ubig, 1957).…”

“…Moore (1924) and Lanier (1954) considered fusion of the transverse process(-es) of the lumbar vertebra to the ala(-e) of the sacrum to be ''congenital''-''fusions of this nature are found in embryos and fetuses and have never been observed to develop in the postnatal period'' (Lanier, 1954, p 366). This statement, however, overlooks the fact that sacral vertebrae do not begin fusing with one another until early in the second decade of life (Scheuer and Black, 2000).…”

“…1). Based on 41 samples reported in the literature, the prevalence of high assimilation ranges from 2 to 50%, with a median of 7%, and with two-thirds of the samples in the range from 4 to 9% (Paterson, 1893;Sutherland, 1922;S Moore, 1924, BH Moore 1925Brailsford, 1929;Cushway and Maier, 1929;Willis, 1929;Giles, 1931;Hodges and Peck, 1937;Williams, 1938;Thoms and Greulich, 1940;Young and Ince, 1940;Kirchhoff, 1949;Allen and Lindem, 1950;Southworth and Bersack, 1950;O'Connell, 1951;Colcher and Hursh, 1952;Splithoff, 1953;Andrew, 1954;Hult, 1954;Runge, 1954;Allbrook, 1955;Berger and Stoll, 1965;Leverett, 1966;Diehl and Holmberg, 1968;Tilley, 1970;Tini et al, 1977;Magora and Schwartz, 1978;Bustami, 1989;Elster, 1989;Leboeuf et al, 1989;Kamanli and Genc, 2002;Masnicová and Beň uš, 2003;Steinberg et al, 2003;Lee et al, 2007). High assimilation has been associated with a suite of clinical problems, including obstetrical difficulty (Breus and Kolisko, 1904;Thoms, 1933;Kirchhoff, 1949; Kirchhoff and Kräubig, 1957;Berger and Stoll, 1965;…”

Sacralization is not associated with elongated cervical costal process and cervical rib

“…Cervical rib is also associated with childhood cancers, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, astrocytoma, brain tumor, germ cell tumor, soft tissue sacrcoma, and Wilms tumor (Schumacher et al, 1992;Merks et al, 2005). Sacralization is associated with pain in the lower back and leg and with obstetrical complications (Gordon, 1923;Moore, 1924;Thoms, 1933;Ferguson, 1934;Williams, 1938;Kirchhoff, 1949;Allen and Lindem, 1950;Kirchhoff and Kräubig, 1957;Berger and Stoll, 1965;Kraub et al, 1997;Delport et al, 2006). Erken et al (2002Erken et al ( :1663 concluded that, ''The association between cervical rib and sacralization .…”

“…The prevalence of sacralization in adults ranges from 2% to 28.4% with a median of 7.4%, based on 29 samples reported in the literature in which the samples consisted of individuals who did not have back or leg pain, or were obstetrical patients, or were skeletonized (Paterson, 1893;Moore, 1924;Cushway and Maier, 1929;Giles, 1931;Thoms and Greulich, 1940;Young and Ince, 1940;Allen and Lindem, 1950;Southworth and Bersack, 1950;Colcher and Hursh, 1952;Splithoff, 1953;Andrew, 1954;Hult, 1954;Runge, 1954;Allbrook, 1955;Berger and Stoll, 1965;Leverett, 1966;LaRocca and Macnab, 1969;Tilley, 1970;Tini et al, 1977;Magora and Schwartz, 1978;Bustami, 1989;Otani et al, 2001;Santiago et al, 2001;Kamanli and Genc, 2002;Masnicová and Beňuš, 2003;Steinberg et al, 2003;Tague, 2009). Erken et al (2002) reported a prevalence of 35.9%.…”