Ivory vertebra refers to diffuse and homogenous increase in opacity of a vertebral body that retains size and contour with no change is size and opacity of adjacent intervertebral discs.
Mnemonic: PH FILMS
1. Paget disease of bone
2. Hemangioma
3. Fluorosis
4. Infection (tubercular spondylitis)
5. Lymphoma (usually Hodgkin’s lymphoma)
6. Metastases (osteoblastic) and Myelosclerosis
- Causes of osteoblastic metastases can be remembered using the mnemonic: Five Bees Lick Pollen
- Brain (medulloblastoma)
- Bronchus
- Breast
- Bowel (esp. carcinoid)
- Bladder
- Lymphoma
- Prostate
7. Sickle cell disease
Further reading: Ivory vertebra: imaging findings in different diagnoses – PMC
