QUESTION: I am evaluating a patient who had a compression fracture at T12 (12th thoracic vertebra) and L2 (2nd lumbar vertebra) using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Sixth Edition. To what part of the spine does the T12 belong? Is it part of the lumbar spine (rated using Table 17-4, Lumbar Spine Regional Grid: Spine Impairments) or part of the thoracic spine (rated using Table 17-3, Thoracic Spine Regional Grid: Spine Impairments)? According the Sixth Edition, the thoracic spine is the region from T1 to T12 and the lumbar spine is the region from T12 to S1. If there is a compression fracture of the upper part of the vertebra of T12, then I assume that this would not belong to the motion segment of T12–L1; therefore, ratings would be provided for the thoracic...
