Ossification of the cervical anterior longitudinal ligament contributing to dysphagia

Abstract

<jats:p content-type="fine-print">✓ The authors evaluated the clinical, radiological, and surgical management of ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament (OALL) that contributed to dysphagia in a patient with simultaneous cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). A 57-year-old man presented with increasing dysphagia and moderate myelopathy. Imaging studies, including esophagoscopy, revealed marked esophageal compression due to OALL that extended between the C2–5 levels and significant C5–7 OPLL that compressed the distal cervical spinal cord. The use of rongeurs and a high-speed drill facilitated excision of the C2–5 OALL mass, and a routine anterior corpectomy with fusion was performed at the C5–7 level. Postoperatively, the patient's dysphagia and symptoms of myelopathy immediately resolved. The strut graft became fully fused 3 months postoperatively, as demonstrated on dynamic x-ray films, and the patient has remained asymptomatic 4 months postoperatively. Patients with dysphagia and coexisting myelopathy benefit from simultaneous surgery for resection of OALL and OPLL masses.</jats:p>

Report of a patient successfully treated with radiotherapy for tongue carcinoma and managed with cervical ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament

“…In many reports on the symptoms caused by cervical OALL [5,6], the clinical symptoms most commonly included compression of the esophagus and trachea [7,8], resulting in dysphagia, aspiration [3,4], and choking by aspiration of food, suggesting that OALL is one of the risk factors for aspiration pneumonitis in elderly patients [9]. To the best of our knowledge, no cases of tongue carcinoma in a patient with asymptomatic OALL have been reported in the English literature.…”

Enfermedad de Forestier-Rotes-Querol: Osificación del ligamento longitudinal cervical anterior como causa de disfagia

“…Ello sugiere que otros factores están implicados en la disfunción de los mecanismos de la deglución 4,18,19,33,39 ; estos pueden ser cambios inflamatorios cró-nicos asociados con fibrosis, tumores o traumatismos 15,19,37 . La compresión del esófago por osteofitos produce inflamación en la pared, que podría originar dificultad en la deglución 2,3,12,17,21,26,38,43 ; la acumulación de tejido fibroso en la pared del esófago, secundaria a una inflamación cró-nica, comprometería la peristalsis esofágica.…”

Ossified Ligamentum Longitudinale Anterius in Adult Human Dry Vertebrae

“…Such type of ossification may compress the larynx or trachea and lead to the immobility or mucosal thickening of larynx or dysphagia [10], and may compress the recurrent laryngeal nerve causing recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy or bilateral nerve damage which can result in breathing difficulties and aphonia (the inability to speak).…”