Spondylolysis Health Dictionary

A disorder of the spine in which the arch of the 5th (or, rarely, the 4th) lumbar vertebra consists of soft fibrous tissue instead of normal bone.

As a result, the arch is weak and prone to damage under stress, which may produce spondylolisthesis.

Otherwise, spondylolysis is usually symptomless.

See cervical spondylosis; cervical osteoarthritis.

n. a bony defect in a vertebra between the *lamina and the *transverse process, thought to be due to a *stress fracture and common in gymnasts.