SPONDYLOARTHROPATHY IN PROBOSCIDEANS

Noting the common occurrence of arthritis in contemporary elephants, a skeletal study was undertaken to assess the frequency and nature of t he affliction. Spondyloarthropathy was unequivocally diagnosed in mamm oths (Mammuthus primigenius) and contemporary elephants on the basis o f fusion of vertebral bodies with marginal syndesmophytes, zygoapophys eal joint fusion, and peripheral erosive arthritis and fusion and was easily distinguished from infectious spondylitis and diffuse idiopathi c skeletal hyperostosis. Vertebral involvement was limited in distribu tion, in a pattern characteristic of human psoriatic arthritis and Rei ter's syndrome, also referred to as reactive arthritis. Infectious dia rrhea or sexually transmitted reactive arthritis are the most likely c andidates for this phenomenon, as recognized in elephants and mammoths , which affords a unique opportunity for therapeutic intervention.