Abnormal bony protuberance of anterior atlas causing dysphagia. A rare congenital anomaly

Unusual Presentation of Osteoid Osteoma of the Cervical Spine with Dysphagia: A Case Report

It is uncommon for bony cervical spine lesions to cause dysphagia. Middle-aged female presented in the outpatient clinic with complaints of dysphagia of insidious onset. Patient's medical history, clinical manifestation and imaging studies guided the diagnosis of spinal osteoid osteoma. The presentation and surgical management are discussed in this report.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-03835-w.

Dysphagia due to forestier disease: three cases and systematic literature review

Forestier disease or diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is an uncommon cause of dysphagia. Due to rarity of this condition there is neither any demographic data nor any consensus about the investigation and treatment modalities. Here an effort is made in the present article to compile the information regarding the demographic and clinical features, investigation modalities and different methods of treatment from all the available case reports of dysphagia due to Forestier disease in the English literature till date. Three cases of the same condition are also reported in the present paper. Three cases of dysphagia due to Forestier disease treated in the ENT department of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital are reported herewith. A systematic review of literature is also done. All the case reports of dysphagia due to Forestier disease are obtained by World Wide Web search (WWWS) using 'Forestier Disease', 'DISH' and 'dysphagia' as the key words. Data regarding age, sex, duration of the symptom, associated symptoms, investigations done, level of vertebrae involved and different modalities of treatment with result are collected and analyzed systematically. We found total 73 cases of dysphagia due to Forestier disease. The condition commonly affects males (M:F 5.64:1) in older age group (94.52% cases are 60 years or above), often presented to the treatment facility after a long time of initiation of the symptom. Barium swallow X-rays and lateral neck X-ray were the most common investigations done to arrive at a diagnosis as per result of systematic review. Surgical removal of the causative osteophytes were the definitive treatment, but if surgery is contraindicated, conservative measures like switchover to liquid and semisolid food and proper swallow training also improve the condition to some extent. Dysphagia due to Forestier disease mostly affects older male, often has a chronic course. It can be diagnosed with simple investigations like neck X-ray or barium swallow X-rays. The definitive treatment is surgical, but if contraindicated the problem can be palliated with simple measures like swallow training and change of food.

[Atlantoaxial malformation as a rare cause of dysphagia and snoring]

Abnormalities of the atlantoaxial spine are very rare variants. Bony outgrowths, osteophytes, clefts and aplasia may be misinterpreted as degenerative diseases. One patient presented with intermittent dysphagia and snoring and CT and MRI scans of the cervical spine showed an accessory bone located anterior to the atlas and axis. Atlantoaxial anomalies are often incidental findings without clinical symptoms. Such changes are rarely the cause of intermittent dysphagia and snoring.

Dysphagia secondary to osteoid osteoma of the transverse process of the second cervical vertebra

Dysphagia due to bony lesions of the cervical spine is rare. Almost all reported cases have been secondary to cervical osteophyte formation. We present an unusual case of a 58-year-old male who presented with dysphagia of insidious onset. Investigations revealed osteoid osteoma arising from the transverse process of the second cervical vertebra extending anteriorly in a curvilinear manner. The surgical management of this case is discussed in this report. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of dysphagia secondary to osteoid osteoma of cervical spine.