Baastrup disease

Description

Baastrup disease (kissing spines) refers to an orthopaedic condition / radiological sign with enlargement and approximation of adjacent spinous processes with normal intervertebral disc height and neuroforamina

Baastrup disease usually affects the lumbar spine (L3-5 most commonly affected); secondary to degenerative changes; and is most often associated with the elderly

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History of Baastrup disease

1824 – Prof E(O). Mayer reported on fluid-filled cavities between overgrown lumbar spinous processes in soldiers with back pain. Mayer described the phenomenon as ‘diarthrosis interspinosa vertebrarum lumborum‘

1929 – James Frederick Brailsford (1888-1961) described findings of ‘interspinous arthritis‘ in patients with back pain exacerbated in extension and alleviated in flexion. He termed the physical anomaly ‘kissing spines‘

1933 – Danish radiologist Christian Ingerslev Baastrup (1855–1950) described pathologic changes that occur in adjacent lumbar spinous processes and the soft tissues between them, which are associated with back pain. Demonstrated on radiologic assessment of patients who had pain in the back when standing erect, which was relieved by bending forward.

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Associated Persons

• James Frederick Brailsford (1888-1961)
• Christian Ingerslev Baastrup (1855–1950)

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Alternative names

• Interspinous bursitis (diarthrosis interspinosae) (Mayer, 1825)
• Kissing spines (Brailsford, 1929)
• Baastrup sign (Baastrup, 1933)
• Baastrup syndrome, Morbus Baastrup
• Michotte syndrome
• Osteoarthrosis interspinosa

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References

Original articles

• Mayer O. Uber zwei neu entdeckte Gelenke an der Wirbelsäule des menschlichen Körpers. Zeitschrift für Physiologie. 1826; 2: 29-35
• Brailsford JF. Deformities of the lumbosacral region of the spine. BJS 1929;16:562-627
• Baastrup CI. On the Spinous Processes of the Lumbar Vertebrae and the Soft Tissues Between them, and on Pathological Changes in that Region. Acta Radiologica. 1933;14(1):52-55
• Baastrup CI. Proc. spin. vert. lumb. und einige zwischen diesen liegenden Gelenkbildungen mit pathologischen Prozessen in dieser Region. Fortschritte auf dem Gebiete der Röntgenstrahlen. 1933;48:430-435.

Review articles

• Singla A, Shankar V, Mittal S, Agarwal A, Garg B. Baastrup’s disease: The kissing spine. World J Clin Cases. 2014 Feb 16;2(2):45-7. 
• Filippiadis DK, Mazioti A, Argentos S, Anselmetti G, Papakonstantinou O, Kelekis N, Kelekis A. Baastrup’s disease (kissing spines syndrome): a pictorial review. Insights Imaging. 2015 Feb;6(1):123-8
• Carrolll JF. Baastrup’s Disease. MRI Web Clinic. Dec 2017
• Bell DJ, Gaillard F. Baastrup syndrome. radiopaedia.org (2018)

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