Editorial

Excerpt

Christian Georg Schmorl (1861–1932), a German pathologist remembered for his work in histology, published images of the vertebral end-plates in his book “Die Gesunde und Kranke Wirbelsäule” (The Healthy and Sick Spine), which truly have not dated. It took decades, however, before serious attention was again given to this structure by Hilton and co-workers (RC Hilton, J Ball, and RT Benn: Vertebral end-plate lesions (Schmorl’s nodes) in the dorsolumbar spine. Ann Rheum Dis; 1976). Since then, a lot of researchers have studied the endplates either biomechanically, histologically, biologically or radiologically. Yet, we still do not fully understand its function and behavior. …