Listhesis

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A forward (anterior) displacement (slippage) of a vertebra over a lower segment.

    "Type 1 facetal malalignment was when the facet of atlas was dislocated anterior to the facet of axis on lateral imaging and simulates lumbosacral listhesis."

  2. 2
    Any such displacement, anterior or otherwise.

Example

More examples

"Type 1 facetal malalignment was when the facet of atlas was dislocated anterior to the facet of axis on lateral imaging and simulates lumbosacral listhesis."

Etymology

From reanalysis of spondylolisthesis as spondylo- + listhesis. The second element would be more accurately written olisthesis; it is from Ancient Greek ὀλισθάνω (olisthánō, “to slip, to slide”). Compare olistostrome. The word first appears in a 1912 medical terminology reference.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.