Romanus lesion

In radiology, a Romanus lesion is the erosion of the anterior and posterior vertebral endplates in patients with an inflammatory spondyloarthropathy – such as ankylosing spondylitis or an enteropathic arthropathy.^[1][2] The anterior erosion in particular causes a loss of anterior vertebral body concavity, causing the vertebra to display a squared contour or even a barrel-shape.^[1] Healing of the erosion results in a sclerotic increase in density causing what is known as a shiny corner sign,^[1][3] which can later result in syndesmophyte formation.^[4] It is most easily diagnosed using MRI, compared to conventional radiography.^[2]

This type of erosion was initially described by Ragnar Romanus and Sven Ydén in a paper published in 1952.^[5]