Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. In medicine, Spondylopathies is a general term for disorders of the vertebrae. When involving inflammation, it can be called spondylitis. In contrast, a spondyloarthropathy is a condition involving the vertebral joints, but many conditions involve both spondylopathy and spondyloarthropathy. Examples include Ankylosing spondylitis and Spondylosis. Dorsopathy is a term used to describe various diseases ("-pathy") of the back and or spine ("dorso-"). Although the terms "dorsalgia" and "dorsopathy" are sometimes used interchangeably, they do not mean quite the same thing. The root "-algia" in the former term means that the term is limited to those conditions which cause pain (see back pain), and doesn't include conditions that may not be painful, such as kyphosis. However, in casual usage, the distinction is often foggy.