Ankylosing Spondylitis and Spinal Osteotomy

This condition has been known from the seventeenth century but was first described in detail by Von Bechterew in 1893 and by Paul Marie in 1898. Examples of the disease have been seen in Egyptian mummies and Hippocrates may have described the condition. There may also have been a biblical reference as described in Genesis, chapter 19, verse 26: 'But Lot's wife looked back from behind him and became a pillar of salt'. Many names have been given to the disease Marie Strumpell arthritis, spondylose rhizomelique, Bechterew's disease, spondylarthritis ankylopoietica, spondylitis deformans, pelvispondylitis ossificans and, in American literature, rheumatoid or rheumatic spondylitis. Until recent years the diagnosis has all too frequently not been made until bony ankylosis was relatively advanced and it must be stressed that early diagnosis, if possible in the pre-ankylosing phase, is essential for the prevention of serious and crippling deformities with progressive bony ankylosis. At one time there was a tendency to regard ankylosing spondylitis as an atypical form of rheumatoid arthritis but the group of diseases termed the seronegative spondylo-arthritides, which include psoriatic arthritis, Reiter's disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, Whipple's disease, Beh9et's syndrome and ankylosing spondylitis, have been shown by Wright & Moll(1973) to have a number of common features. Clinically the prognosis for this group is better than for rheumatoid arthritis and the common features include: (1) Negative tests for rheumatic factor. (2) Absence ofrheumatoid nodules. (3) Sacroiliitis