Charcot Joints

Charcot joint disorder occurs when the pain defense mechanism fails due to an abnormal sensation caused by neuropathy. The joints are easily overloaded beyond their natural pain threshold, resulting in articular cartilage degeneration, marked bone destruction, and irregular reactive bone proliferation. Charcot first described this disease in 1868, reporting the relationship between locomotor ataxia caused by syphilis and neuropathic arthropathy. Later, he reported the relationship between diabetes mellitus and neuropathic arthropathy in Jordan in 1936 [1]. In addition to locus coeruleus and diabetes mellitus, other primary diseases that cause this syndrome include syringomyelia, spinal meningocele, adhesive arachnoiditis, spinal cord injury, polyradiculoneuritis, congenital hyperalgesia, amyloidosis, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.