[Critical study of radiculomedullary and neuromuscular complications of ankylosing spondylitis].

Medullo-radicular and neuro-muscular involvements of ankylosing spondylarthritis, often reported in an analytic fashion in the literature, deserve to be the subject of a critical study. Various neurological manifestations secondary to exceptional atlo-occipital and sometimes axis-atlas subluxations and medullary lesions as well as syndromes of the cauda equina. The medullary lesions have an epidural origin (3 cases in the literature, 2 cases from the authors) or are secondary to a spondylodiscitis (4 cases in the literature) or secondary to both (1 case reported by the authors). As for syndromes of the cauda equina the authors report 3 cases to be added to the 55 published previously. It concerns always old spondylarthritis. The lesions combine posterior diverticula and lesions of the lamina. The treatment is usually ineffective. A special case is represented by forms with trophic disorders. More debatable are the radicular lesions, which, except for intercostal pain, should be linked to local pain. Electromyographic abnormalities are of no significance. Alterations of the paravertebral muscles viewed on the scanner X have, for now, an uncertain significance. Finally, various associations, without significance such as multiple sclerosis, diffuse muscular lesions and the classic spondylotic pseudo-tabes, should be rejected.