Intervertebral disc calcification in adults: A review

C1‐2 Steroid Injection for Crowned Dens Syndrome

“…Crystal‐induced neck pain can occur with deposition of hydroxyapatite or CPPD, a rare condition known as crowned dens syndrome. Cervical hydroxyapatite deposition involves the longus colli muscle tendon [5] or the intervertebral disc [6], whereas deposition of CPPD in the cervical spine is located in the intervertebral disc [6], ligamentum flavum [7], the zygapophyseal joints, and the transverse ligament [8].…”

Intervertebral chondrocalcinosis: an exercise in differential diagnosis in palaeopathology

“…Klippel-Feil syndrome characteristically involves failure of segmentation in the cervical spine (Aufderheide & RodriguezMartin, 1998: 60), which is not present in the current case. Furthermore, in intervertebral chondrocalcinosis secondary to these or other conditions which lead to spinal fusion, calcification only tends to occur between the fused vertebral segments (Dussalt & Kaye, 1977;Weinberger & Myers, 1978) and appears to be a consequence of the lack of normal mechanical forces on the disc due to immobility (Dussault & , 1977). By contrast, in the current case, calcific deposits are present on subchondral surfaces of vertebral bodies which are not ankylosed.…”

“…In the sections which follow, these diagnostic options are considered. Calcification of intervertebral discs has been observed as a secondary feature in conditions causing vertebral ankylosis, such as DISH, juvenile-onset rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis or Klippel-Feil syndrome (Dussault & Kaye, 1977;Weinberger & Myers, 1978;Resnick & Niwayama, 1981: 1632. However, the alterations in current specimen are not compatible with these conditions.…”

“…Analysis was carried out on a calcific deposit on the subchondral surface of a thoracic vertebral body from skeleton 0938, and, as a control, on an undiseased fragment of scapula Table 1. Some causes of intervertebral chondrocalcinosis (Weinberger & Myers, 1978;Resnick & Niwayama, 1981;Dalinka et al, 1982;Resnick, 1985;Feinberg et al, 1990;Şahin et al, 2001) from the same skeleton. The samples of bone were analysed using the energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) detector attached to a scanning electron microscope (SEM).…”

Ochronotic Spondyloarthropathy

“…The increasing disc calcification and the associated vacuum phenomenon with minimal osteophytic changes, are the specific imaging findings of alkaptonuria [3]. This condition however, has to be differentiated from the other causes of the intervertebral disc calcification, some of which include calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease (relatively faint, peripheral disc calcification), haemochromatosis, hyperparathyroidism (peripheral disc calcification), acromegaly (anterior disc calcification, normal or increased disc spaces and posterior scalloping of the vertebral bodies) and ankylosing spondylitis (central disc calcification, a maintained disc space, syndesmophytes and a ligamentous calcification) [4].…”