AMYLOID DESTRUCTIVE SPONDYLOARTHROPATHY CAUSING CORD COMPRESSION - RELATED TO CHRONIC-RENAL-FAILURE AND DIALYSIS

DESTRUCTIVE SPONDYLOARTHROPATHY IS a recently recognized disease that has not been reported in the neurosurgical literature. It is associate d with spinal amyloid deposition in long-term renal failure and dialys is, and it occurs increasingly as the number of dialysis patients and their survival times increase. Clinically, there is a multisegmental a nd often rapidly progressive radiculomyelopathy that may require emerg ency stabilization. The radiological features are disc space narrowing with erosion of vertebral end plates and subarticular cysts. The path ological features include deposition of amyloid, which stains with Con go Red and antibodies to beta-2-microglobulin. We present two cases wi th clinical, radiological, and pathological features and a review of t he literature.