[Neurogenic claudication and claudication by arteritis of the lower limbs]

Intermittent claudication of neurogenic origin can be traced to three basic causes: --either a chronic circulatory deficiency in the arteries leading to the spinal cord, whether these arteries be the site of an atheroma of the ostia, an inflammation or a loco-regional compression. In such cases, the claudication is painless which differentiates it from the arteritis claudication of the lower limbs. --or to a compression of the roots of the cauda equina and to a lesser degree of the spinal cord, through a narrow rachidian canal that is hereditary or acquired, and relative or absolute. --or finally to a sheathing peripheral neuropathy of the lower limbs. The two latter causes are accompanied by pain, and make it necessary to widen the classical notion of the intermittent claudication (Dejerine's non painful intermittent claudication of the spinal cord).