Destructive spondyloarthropathy mimicking spondylitis in long-term hemodialysis patients

A 63-year-old man with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who had been undergoing hemodialysis for 18 years suffered persistent neck pain, progressive quadriparesis, and a deteriorating ataxic gait during the 6 months before admission. A sudden onset of aggravating quadriparesis and an inability to ambulate occurred during his trip to Sydney, Australia, 1 week before this admission. Vertebral tuberculosis osteomyelitis of the C5/6 segment was considered and treated in a hospital there. Findings from cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; low signal intensity on both T1- and T2-weighted images) were diagnostic of destructive spondyloarthropathy (DSA) and distinguishable from spinal osteomyelitis preoperatively. Amyloid masses, mainly composed of B-2 microglobulin, filled in disc and paradiscal ligaments, with adjacent end-plate destruction by cytokine-mediated reactive inflammation, and appeared to be mostly related to the pathogenesis of DSA. The cervical spine, especially C5/6, is the most common site of DSA. Spinal instability and neurologic compression cause the clinical symptoms and signs. Adequate decompression and successful cervical fusion ensure the best therapeutic results.