Co-Existence of Fibromyalgia and Radiological Cervical Spine Degeneration: Preliminary Report

Abstract

AbstractObjectives: The study is aimed to prove that clinical presentation of fibromyalgia is not attributed to the radiological degenerative changes of cervical spine that accompanied it. Methods: A total number of 89 patients (71 females and 18 males) clinically diagnosed as fibromyalgia with a mean duration of 2 years and 97 healthy subjects (83 females and 14 males) were enrolled in our study at Al-Yarmouk Teaching hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. Results: Degenerative changes in term of narrowing disc space in absence or presence of spondylophytes were found in 25 (28.1%) and 28 (31%) out of 89 patients compared to 9 (9.3%) and 30 (30.1%) out of 97 healthy subjects respectively. These radiological changes were significantly reported in patients who had family history of fibromyalgia and those with psychosomatic symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Conclusions: We conclude that degenerative changes of cervical spine in patients with fibromyalgia are not related to the age while family history of fibromyalgia is strongly relatedKey words: Fibromyalgia, cervical spine, radiological changes