CALCIUM PYROPHOSPHATE ARTHROPATHY OF THE SPINE - CASE-REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

CALCIUM PYROPHOSPHATE DEPOSITION disease is a relatively uncommon arth ropathy characterized by the clinical features of pseudogout, the radi ographic manifestations of chondrocalcinosis, and the pathological dep osition of calcium pyrophosphate crystals in both hyaline and fibrocar tilage. Symptomatic involvement of the spine by calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease is rare except by nodular deposition in the ligamen tum flavum and atlanto-occipital ligament. We report a 50-year-old wom an who presented with an acute herniated disc syndrome secondary to an intraspinal inflammatory calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease mas s at the level of the L4-L5 interspace. The magnetic resonance image a nd histopathological features of the case are also discussed.