[Intervertebral disc calcification in children]

Evaluation of children with intervertebral disc calcification (IDC) and own experience.

A retrospective analysis of 7 patients (2 girls and 5 boys) with detected, in the years 1990-2009, IDC. Age at the onset of symptoms (neck pain in 6 patients, torticollis in 4, hip pain in one) was on average 8.7 years (5-13 years). The diagnosis was based on review of radiographs of the spine, which revealed the presence of calcifications within the intervertebral discs in the cervical (4 patients), cervical and thoracic (2 patients) and thoracic spine (1 patient). The mean level of IDC on average was 3.3 spaces (1-6).

After conservative treatment, including use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and rest, the symptoms subsided within 1-2 weeks. 4 patients had a return of pain in the neck, in one year, but the symptoms were milder and resolved within a few days. The mean observation period was 9 years (3.5-16 years). In 4 patients, changes disappeared completely, while in the remaining three there was a very discrete calcifications. One patient, after 6 years, had a pain in the neck, and CT showed minor lytic changes on the surface of the vertebral bodies between which calcification occurred.

ś IDC is a rare disease of the spine in children, but should be taken into account in cases of vertebral pain. Usually the disease affects children before the age of 10 and locates in the cervical spine. But it can be located in every segment of the spine. Most patients have multilevel location. Acute phase of the disease requires conservative treatment. Rarely used surgical treatment should be considered only in patients with persistant neurological symptoms. The natural course of the disease is mild, and over the years calcification gradually disappear spontaneously.