Not all that is abnormal is bad

There is compression fracture of L1. Note the vertical lines within the vertebrae above and below the fractured L1. This is due to intraosseous hemangioma. These lines are also fondly referred to as "jailhouse striations".

Osseous hemangioma is due to benign vascular malformation. It can be found in up to 10% of normal subject with increased prevalence due to more MRI scans being done which is more sensitive in picking up the lesion. It usually runs a benign course with no adverse effect but can occasionally cause problems such as compression fracture (as per index case) and expansion of the lesion beyond the vertebral margin into the spinal canal.

MRI is generally more sensitive in picking up these lesions despite the small size as the fat or blood product contained within will show as high signal lesion on both T1 and T2 sequences. Smaller lesions are not adequately picked up on plain radiography which requires up to 50% of bone matrix replacement before the lesion becomes conspicuous.