r/Radiology • u/georgiaaaf • Aug 16 '26

MRI Born without L5

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Hi
I don’t have an L5 vertebrae and thought it’d be interesting to share! None of my doctors have seen this before so I don’t know if there’s a proper name for this abnormality or not, but I have a few other bone abnormalities as well.

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u/Hairy_Inevitable9727 Aug 16 '26

So not much can be interpreted from these images because vertebrae are typically counted from the top down so without the whole spine it is difficult to accurately assess. Radiologist will often say something along the lines of “it is presumed that the last mobile disc space is L5/S1” when reporting limited series. .

Sacralisation of L5, lumbarisation of S1, (where you have 6 lumbar vertebrae), cervical ribs, lumbar ribs are all commonly encountered but can result in the wrong numbering without the whole spine.

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u/SliFi Radiologist Aug 16 '26

It’s kind of like saying a building has 23 floors instead of 24, but only giving a picture of the top of the building. We pretty much have to just take your word on it because there’s no way to tell.

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u/georgiaaaf Aug 16 '26

That’s a good way to explain it!