Erosive intervertebral osteochondrosis in association with generalized osteoarthritis and chondroc alcinosis; anatomico-radiological study of a case.

This paper concerns a radiological and postmortem study of an 81-year-old woman with diffuse intervertebral osteochondrosis (T12-L1 severe erosion) in association with generalized osteoarthritis and articular chondrocalcinosis. Varying degrees of cartilage plate flaws with cartilaginous Schmorl's nodes and vertebral plateaux erosion are shown to occur without calcium pyrophosphate crystal deposits in situ. Differential diagnosis between intervertebral osteochondrosis and infectious spondylitis may require a combination of tomographic evolution over time, bone scans and biopsy, the latter being not always conclusive.