title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Sisli Etfal Research and Training Hospital, 2. Internal Medicine Clinic, Sisli, 34377, Istanbul, Turkey. bekaradag@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Berrin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Karadag
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cat
authors.forename: Selma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aksoy
authors.forename: Banu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ozulu
authors.forename: Ali Osman
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.forename: Sukru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oguz
authors.forename: Yuksel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Altuntas
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal / Q000379:methods; D004947:Esophagus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D004057:Hyperostosis, Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007013:Hypopharynx / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss