Intervertebral disc lesions in diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH)

Objective In order to evaluate the relationships between DISH and vertebral osteochondrosis (degenerative disc disease), the radiographs of the spine of 69 DISH patients were compared to those of 68 controls. Methods Radiographs of 69 patients affected by DISH according to Resnick's criteria and of 68 control subjects affected by diseases other than DISH, w ere evaluated in order to determine the prevalence of vertebral osteochondr osis, diagnosed by the occurrence of moderate to severe reduction in the in tervertebral disc height and of the extensive radiographic changes typical of degenerative disc disease, including vacuum phenomena and vertebral body marginal sclerosis. The rate ratios with 95% confidence intervals were com puted, with stratification by age groups. Results Thirty-eight DISH patients (55.1%) and 34 controls (50%) showed ver tebral osteochondrosis, Stratification by age revealed an increased prevale nce of vertebral osteochondrosis in younger DISH patients with respect to c ontrols (p < 0.05). Conclusion Our results show that vertebral osreochondrosis may be associate d with DISH and underline the differences between classification and diagno stic criteria, Moreover it could be hypothesized that DISH plays a predispo sing role in the development of vertebral osteochondrosis during the earlie r stages of the disease, causing an early modification in the physiological curves of the spine.