RHEUMATOID spondylitis has been known by many names in the past, among them rhyzomelic spondylitis, Marie-Strümpell's disease, von Bechterew's syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis, spondylitis deformans, and atrophic spondylitis.3
This is generally considered to be a disease of young adult males, the age of onset in the vast majority of cases occurring between 15 and 40 years of age.3 The disease occurs predominantly in males, with the sex ratio usually reported as 10:1,* though varying in extremes from 4:1 to 20: 1.†
A review of the literature reveals a striking paucity of reports of the development of this disease in prepubertal girls. Tyson and co-workers,16 in a 20-year study of the rheumatoid spondylitis patients seen at the Presbyterian and New York Orthopedic Hospitals, stated that the youngest age of onset seen in girls was 14 years. No statement was made regarding the correlation with puberty. Polley and Slocumb‡