[Vertebral osteonecrosis. Apropos of 3 cases, 1 complicated by spinal cord compression and 2 associated with another necrotic localization].

The authors report three cases of vertebral osteonecrosis which presented the phenomenon of intra-vertebral space. These patients had osteoporosis with vertebral compression. Two received steroid therapy. One case progressively developed spinal cord compression and the two other cases had an associated osteonecrosis (femoral head and talus). After reviewing the literature, the authors stress the relative frequency of neurological complications, in particular spinal cord compression (7 per cent).