Wedging of Lower Thoracic and Upper Lumbar Vertebral Bodies in Early Recent Japanese

An examination of the vertebrae of the early recent Japanese (in the 17th century) from Hitotsubashi Metropolitan High School Site, Tokyo, revealed that wedge-shaped vertebral bodies were sometimes found at the lower thoracic and upper lumbar, especially at the lowermost thoracic and uppermost lumbar, in males. The wedging of the vertebral bodies was, however, rarely present at those in females. The wedge-shaped vertebrae in question would commonly accompany a fixed thoraco-lumbar kyphosis in the living body, and possibly were caused by it. Such a thoraco-lumbar kyphosis might be a very common, localized form of adolescent kyphosis or SCHEUERMANN's disease. It was suggested that the wedging of the vertebrae in males were probably caused by resting and working in the cross-legged sitting or sartorial posture, which was commonly assumed only by males in the recent Japan. A few occurrence of the wedging in females would be due to some postural defects, such as sway back and round back

Kyphosis · Lumbar · Lumbar lordosis · Lumbar vertebrae · Pathology · Radiography · Sitting · Thoracic vertebrae · Vertebral body · Anatomy · Medicine · Scoliosis diagnosis and treatment · Surgery