Evaluation ot degenerative changes ot the vertebral column in usually underrated because half the patients with these changes have no clinical complaints. Incorrect evaluation can however lead to an incorrecttherapeutic procedure and sometimes to serious errors. The most important ones include dorsal osteophytes, spondylarthritis which trequently lead to compression ot nervous structures. It is also important to evaluate the anomaly leading to premature development ot degenerative changes - numerical varianty - assymetric vertebrae, spinal stenosis.

        Key words: X-ray pictures, spinal column, degenerative changes, spinal stenosis, instability