Supernumerary lumbar ribs: a rare occurrence on an adult African male skeleton

Abstract

Supernumerary lumbar ribs are usually asymptomatic and discovered incidentally during routine diagnostic radiography. During a routine inventory of the research skeletal repository at the University of the Witwatersrand, a rare case of bilateral supernumerary ribs on the first lumbar vertebra was observed. The skeletal specimen belonged to a 70-year-old African male whose recorded cause of death was esophageal carcinoma. Plain radiography revealed bilateral joint cavities between the transverse processes of the first lumbar vertebra and the supernumerary ribs. Clinically, supernumerary lumbar ribs may present with pain of the renal angle, cause confusion during enumeration of the vertebral levels on radiographs, and may be misinterpreted as fractures, kissing osteophytes, and/or calcification of abdominal vasculature.

Sternal tail: A new entity; A case report

“…Supernumerary ribs are very rare. A review of the literature reveals a global incidence of cervical ribs ranging from 0.04 % up to 4.5 % ( 2 ), intrathoracic ribs in about 50 cases to date ( 3 ) and very few reports on supernumerary ribs in the lumbar ( 4 ) and sacral region ( 5 ).…”

Bilateral supernumerary lumbar ribs causing ambiguity in counting intercostal space during video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery

“…Bilateral supernumerary lumbar ribs were rarely reported with no consensus on their incidence or prevalence rates. 1 Most of the supernumerary lumbar ribs were found accidentally without obvious symptoms and they were often mistakenly diagnosed as kissing osteophytes, abdominal vessel abnormalities and/or fractures of the transverse processes. 2 For clinical significance, in the case of uncertainty in counting intercostal space for VATS surgery, supernumerary lumbar ribs should be suspected.…”