[Etiologic aspects of low back pain in rheumatic patients in Kinshasa (Zaire). Apropos of 169 cases].

A study over a period of 27 consecutive months showed that among patients seen in a Kinshasa hospital outpatient clinic for rheumatologic diseases, 46.5% sought medical advice for lower back pain. Lumbar arthrosis (74.5%), spondylodiscitis (9.5%) and unilateral sacroiliitis (9%) were the main causes of this complaint. A single patient had osteoporosis and no cases of ankylosing spondylarthritis were seen. Lumbar arthrosis was prevalent among females. Mean age of patients with disk disease was fairly low (43 years). Infectious spondylodiscitis and unilateral sacroiliitis, presumably reactive or infectious in origin, were also more common in women. HIV-infection was found in 44% of patients with spondylodiscitis and in 53% of patients with sacroiliitis. Age of HIV-infected individuals ranged from 21 to 40 years. Bacteriologic studies proved indispensable for determining the cause of these conditions in which leukocyte courts failed to rise. In young individuals in Kinshasa with spondylodiscitis or unilateral sacroiliitis, routine HIV testing is warranted.