The spinal canal in familial spastic paraplegia.

The elucidation of possible involvement of the vertebral canal in familial spastic paraplegia is attempted. The sagittal and the transverse diameters of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebral canal were estimated in 14 patients and 100 controls. The results showed that the vertebral canal of the patients is considerably smaller in its whole length and not only in the thoracic region. This finding is discussed in relation to the development of both the vertebral canal and spinal cord.