[Study of 108 cases of cervico-brachial neuralgia: the concepts of idiopathic cervico-brachial neuralgia and cervico-arthrotic cervico-brachial neuralgia].

On the basis of a series of 108 cases of cervicobrachial neuralgia a study was made of the clinical characteristics, circumstances of appearance, associated neurological signs, sequelae, relapses, and aetiologies of these observations. This series permits consideration of the aetiopathogenesis of cervicobrachial neuralgias of rheumatic origin from a new angle. The disco-osteophytic nodule does not appear to play the role classically attributed to it. Three forms are distinguished: idiopathic cervicobrachial neuralgia of transient occurrence with a cyclic duration and little tendency to recurrence and not related to concomitant arthrotic lesions; long-term cervicobrachial neuralgia lasting more than 20 weeks and always requiring a search for narrow canal and root anomaly -sometimes the form of onset of cervicarthrotic myelopathies; cervico brachialgia caused by cervicarthrosis seen after the age of 60 and consisting of projected pain rather than true cervicobrachial neuralgia, often recurrent.