A geriatric patient with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis

Abstract

The most frequent health problems seen in senility are chronic and degenerative diseases. A 75-year-old male patient with the complaints of weight loss and difficulty in swallowing was admitted to our hospital from a nursing home. Upper system fiber-optic gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed and a mass at the junction of the hypopharynx and esophagus just below recessus piriformis obstructing almost the whole of the lumen and blocking the distal passage was detected. Computed tomography revealed marked narrowing secondary to osseous hypertrophy in the air column of the hypopharynx and proximal esophagus. Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis or Forestier's disease is an idiopathic disease characterized by the ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament of vertebra and some of the extraspinal ligaments. In the present case we aim to discuss an elderly patient who suffered from dysphagia and weight loss and the diagnostic stages.

Figure 1

Cervical CT. A: Sagittal section revealed hypertrophic bridging alterations of anterior corpus parts at the level of C3-T1 vertebra and restriction of the esophagus due to osteophytic sprue formations; B: Axial section revealed osteophytic formations on the anterior parts of vertebral corpus.