Some Factors in the Aetiology of Osteochondritis of the Spine

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Abstract
Osteochondritis of the spine is reported in several members of two families. Some account is given of their life and circumstances, and an analysis is made of the radiological findings. The conclusions are that the development of osteochondritis is influenced by a combination of factors, including postural deformities and continued malnutrition during the years of growth. Children in the same family tend to copy the postural curvatures of one of the parents. Healing takes place with improved social circumstances. In twenty out of twenty-five children in one village, having a child population of fifty-one between the ages of twelve and sixteen years, radiographic changes were detected in the spine. All the cases examined in the two families showed evidence of dental fluorosis, but although fluorine is known to give rise to bony changes when absorbed in large amounts, we have no conclusive evidence that fluorine is a causal or contributive factor in the type of adolescent osteochondritis here described. The...

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