Pagetic Vertebral Ankylosis and Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis

Abstract

The scarcity of PVA reported in the literature and in our study (4.4% of 245 patients) suggests that constant progression of the disease from one vertebra to another by invasion of intervertebral disc space is rare. However, the higher incidence of PVA in men, their preferential location at the thoracic spine and their association with lesions of DISH suggest that progression of Pagetic lesions by invasion of bridging osteophytes may be an important mechanism for the intervertebral spread of Paget's disease.