Rheumatoid pachymeningitis

Abstract

The case history of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis and spondylitis and a cervical myelopathy is presented. Compression of the cervical cord was produced by a rheumatoid pachymeningitis. In reviewing the literature, dural involvement by rheumatoid lesions was found to be an unusual occurrence. A relationship between the involved cervical dura and the overlying spondylitis may exist, but further study of this problem will be necessary before any conclusion can be drawn. The presence of a myelopathy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and spondylitis was noted to be more commonly due to atlantoaxial dislocation and cervical spine fractures. The increasing importance of the neurological complications of rheumatoid arthritis is cited.