title: An unusual cause of aspiration pneumonia.
abstract: We report a case of aspiration admitted to our rehabilitation unit in a patient with dysphagia due to diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis or Forestier's disease of the cervical spine, in whom an episode of pneumonia had occurred. Clinical and instrumental findings, including radiography of the spine, (CT Scan) and videofluoroscopy, confirmed the diagnosis. The dysphagia was hypothesized to be due to mechanical compression and inflammatory changes, accompanied by fibrosis in the esophagus wall. The aspiration pneumonia probably had multifactorial etiology: dysphagia, abnormal cough reflex, colonization of the oropharynx by virulent bacteria, etc. No aspiration pneumonia occurred after medical treatment and rehabilitation had been started. We review the medical literature on this unusual cause of aspiration pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. stef.masiero@unipd.it
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Masiero
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marchese Ragona
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bottin
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Volante
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ortolani
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology; D003679:Deglutition; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D004057:Hyperostosis, Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011015:Pneumonia, Aspiration / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology