The Colon Club

Hi,
My last CT report said:
" Bones and Soft Tissues: No suspicious osseous or soft tissue lesion. Transitional anatomy is noted in S1."
Should I be alarmed about this "transitional anatomy is noted in S1"? On my last visit to both oncologist and surgeon, neither mention about this note.
Any idea what this means?
Thanks.

tbt4snow wrote:Hi,
My last CT report said: " Bones and Soft Tissues: No suspicious osseous or soft tissue lesion. Transitional anatomy is noted in S1."
Should I be alarmed about this "transitional anatomy is noted in S1"? On my last visit to both oncologist and surgeon, neither mention about this note.
Any idea what this means?
Thanks.

I'm not sure, but it could be referring to the area in the spine where the S1 sacral nerve is located. This nerve, if damaged, can cause back pain and sciatica pain. If I were you I would talk to the doctor about that to try to get some clarification.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacral_spinal_nerve_1

https://csn.cancer.org/node/174914

By all means check with your docs, BUTT as mentioned it is an important area for nerves and biomechanical stresses.

The "transitional" designation likely refers to the physical anatomy of the vertebral bodies or processes themselves.

Lumbar vertebrae have certain characteristics and sacral vertebral bodies will have their own specifics.
When a lumbar has characteristics of a sacral or vice versa ... they are termed transitional
i.e. a little bit of both BUTT not quite 100% either / or.....
if that makes sense ?

transitional vertebrae can be a "normal" relatively common finding, and sometimes parts are fused together.
Unless they cause specific problems ... are just a notation on your file.

Cheers and Best Wishes
CRguy

Thank you CRguy and O Stoma Mia. I just emailed my Dr. for clarification. Hopefully nothing major.
Thanks, Tina.