REGRESSION OF A SYMPTOMATIC THORACIC DISC HERNIATION WITH A CALCIFIED INTERVERTEBRAL DISC COMPONENT

Abstract

Spontaneous regression or decrease in size of a herniated disc is a rarely reported entity in the literature. In most of the cases, it was not indicated whether the spontaneously regressed discs were calcified or not. There were only a few cases describing spontaneous regression of calcified thoracic disc herniation in adults. We present a 38-year-old male office worker who had left paramedian-foraminal extruded disc at T7-T8 with calcifications of the T7-T8 and T8-T9 intervertebral discs. This case was unique in that the non-calcified extruded disc material regressed almost completely in 5 months while the calcified intervertebral discs remained the same during the process of regression. This report stresses that regression of the herniated material of the thoracic discs with subsidence of the symptoms is still possible even if the disc material is calcified. DOI: 10.3944/AOTT.2015.14.0336 This abstract belongs to the un-edited version of the article and is only for informative purposes. Published version may differ from the current version.