title: The etiology of focal spinal arachnoiditis. An experimental study.
abstract: Focal arachnoiditis and back pain have been attributed to potentially irritating substances leaking into the spinal canal from the lumbar intervertebral disc or facet joints. Through experimentation this hypothesis was tested: the nucleus pulposus (escaping from the intervertebral disc), lactic acid (from anaerobic glycolysis in the disc), chondroitin sulfate (a component of glycosaminoglycans in the disc), or synovial fluid (from degenerating facet joints) causes inflammation in the meninges if it contacts the dura mater. The test and control substances were injected into the epidural space of monkeys. Twelve weeks later the animals were killed; the dural sac was exposed by total lumbar laminectomy, grossly inspected, and then removed, fixed, sectioned, stained, and examined microscopically. Nucleus pulposus produced significant fibrosus in the arachnoid and epidural spaces; the other substances did not cause fibrosus or inflammation. The study suggests that leakage of nucleus pulposus into the epidural space causes an inflammatory response in the arachnoid and epidural spaces.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Haughton
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001099:Arachnoid / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D001100:Arachnoiditis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004824:Epidural Space / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D007403:Intervertebral Disc; D007773:Lactates / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019344:Lactic Acid; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008578:Meninges / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D013582:Synovial Fluid
chemical_list: D007773:Lactates; D019344:Lactic Acid; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates