[Primary amyloidosis of bones. MRI aspects]

Primary systemic amyloidosis is a rare cause of vertebralcollapse. We describe a patient who presented multiplecollapsed vertebrae. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a diffuse bone marrow abnormality. A diffuse low signal throughout the vertebral bodies on T1 and T2 weighted spin-echo images were observed. A bone biopsy confirmed the suspected diagnosis of vertebral involvementby amyloid. MR imaging can be of interest to evaluate the bone spreading of a known amyloidosis and to help in the diagnosis of amyloidosis in the case of non traumatical vertebral fractures.