Is the appearance of periarticular new bone formation related to local neurological disability?

The present work examined the relationship between the appearance of periarticular new bone formation (PNBF) and the presence of local sensorimotor disability, and the relationship between PNBF and the severity of the motor disability. The study population consisted of 18 patients with spinal cord lesions and 18 patients with traumatic brain injury. The confinement of PNBF below the level of neurological deficit in patients with spinal cord lesions, and mainly to paralysed or paretic limbs in brain injured patients, indicates a possible causal relationship between the presence of sensorimotor disability and PNBF. On the other hand, the high incidence of bilateral PNBF in patients with incomplete spinal lesions and the appearance of PNBF in some nonplegic and even paretic limbs in the brain injured patients, demonstrates the lack of connection between the severity of the motor deficit and the risk of PNBF. It is suggested that local factors which are related to sensorimotor disability are probably involved in PNBF induction, but additional elements may also play a role in the induction of PNBF and in its propagation.