Skeletal distribution of degenerative changes in vertebral osteophytosis, vertebral osteoarthritis and DISH

Abstract

In order to comprehend the condition of vertebral osteophytosis, vertebral osteoarthritis and DISH (diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis) with respect to diagnosis and aetiology, the vertebral and peripheral (appendicular) frequency and distribution pattern of degenerative joint changes of 176 rather affluent citizens were analysed from the late medieval city of Dordrecht in Holland. Patterns of frequencies with respect to age and sex were found to be similar essentially to those of a present-day Dutch suburban village population. Frequencies for vertebral osteophytosis were twice those for vertebral osteoarthritis, and both increased with age in both sexes. The individual pattern of vertebral osteophytosis and vertebral osteoarthritis seems to indicate that each disorder possesses its own progressive identity. From the distribution pattern and frequency of peripheral osteoarthritis it was concluded, with respect to the vulnerability of developing this complication under physically moderate life conditions, that causal factors for vertebral osteophytosis are less important than those for vertebral osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis presented itself as a systemic disorder, affecting synovial joints in general. Finally it was appreciated that, with increasing age, bony outgrowths from joint degeneration become anatomically masked by para-articular ossifications from DISH.

Sex differences in activity-related osseous change in the spine and the gendered division of labor at Ensay and Wharram Percy, UK

“…Despite recent attempts to question the etiology of degenerative change and perceptions of OA as a systemic disorder increasing with age (Maat et al, 1995), the evidence for degenerative change in younger individuals following repeated mechanical loads placed upon the joints is widely accepted (Radin et al, 1972;Peyron, 1986;Bridges, 1991). Softtissue degeneration occurs in the spine in all individuals by age 30 years, but is rare subchondrally before that age (Schmorl and Junghanns, 1971).…”

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis: Diagnostic, clinical, and paleopathological considerations

“…They occur for a variety of reasons, one of which is as a result of mechanical stress on the intervertebral disc as primary weight bearing structures-a strengthening of the vertebral bodies (Maat et al, 1995;Gelse et al, 2003). Vertebral osteophytes can also occur with disc changes in vertebral osteoarthritis, which also has a correlation with increasing age (Maat et al, 1995;van der Kraan and van den Berg, 2007). Some might argue that vertebral osteophytes are a typical feature of growing old and may not be diagnostically significant in some cases (Rogers and Waldron, 1995;van der Kraan and van den Berg, 2007).…”

The incidence of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis and social status correlations in Lithuanian skeletal materials

“…DJD primarily affects the cartilage of the synovial joints that most often manifests as marginal osteophytes at the sites where joint capsule joins bones, and later as bone eburnations. DJD can be a late complication of DISH (Maat et al, 1995). In RA, involvement of the spine occurs only in the cervical area characterized by symmetrical lesions of synovial joints with osteopenia.…”