British Terminology

[Guest guest]

Kathy,

I wonder if he was talking about the apophyseal joints of the spine?

Joints of the vertebral arches are called zygapophysial joints or just

apophysial joints or even just facet joints.

From Clinically Oriented Anatomy book by :

There is an upper and lower facet joint on each side of the vertebrae made up of

an articular surface containing cartilage that faces up on the upper portion,

meeting the downward articular surface from the above vertebrae, and faces down

on the lower portion meeting the upward articular surface.

These joints are surrounded by a thin, loose articular capsule and lined by a

synovial membrane. The capsule is longer and looser in the cervical region than

in the thoracic and lumbar regions, which allows for more flexion in the

cervical region. In the cervical and lumbar regions these joints bear some

weight as do the discs. They help to control flexion, extension, and rotation

of adjacent cervical and lumbar vertebrae.

(To me this means not as much movement of the thoracic vertebrae. If he had

inflammation of these joints then I guess it could be called thoracic

apophysitis. But I would wonder if there is more to it, eg what the cause might

be? OA? Ankylosing spondylitis? etc. Would think other areas of spine would

be more likely to have this unless

he has kyphosis or scoloiosis.)