Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Hemivertebrae
Missing part of vertebrae
HP:0002937
What it means
Absence of one half of the vertebral body.
Lateral hemivertebrae represent a developmental defect resulting from the failure of the contralateral chondral center to develop. Dorsal hemivertebrae result from a developmental defect in which the anterior chondral centers fail to develop, and ventral hemivertebrae result from failure of the posterior centers to ossify. The affected half of the vertebral body may by hypoplastic or absent, as is the pedicle, and (for thoracic vetebrae) the corresponding rib. The affected half of the vertebral body may also show a fusion or segmentation defect.
Rare diseases that can present with this32
Very common80–99%
9- Aphalangy-hemivertebrae-urogenital-intestinal dysgenesis syndrome
- Braddock syndrome
- Cerebrofaciothoracic dysplasia
- Imperforate oropharynx-costovertebral anomalies syndrome
- Kabuki syndrome
- Male hypergonadotropic hypogonadism-intellectual disability-skeletal anomalies syndrome
- Postaxial polydactyly-dental and vertebral anomalies syndrome
- Progressive non-infectious anterior vertebral fusion
- Thakker-Donnai syndrome
Common30–79%
7The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Hemi-vertebrae · Hemivertebra
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Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.