title: Incidence of retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis (longus colli tendinitis) in the general population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the incidence of retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis (longus colli tendinitis) in a general urban adult population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational study in a municipal medical center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Single tertiary referral center.
  
  
  METHODS
  All symptomatic patients with a differential diagnosis of retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis underwent fiber-optic assessment, laboratory studies, and imaging studies. The main outcome measure was the incidence of retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirteen patients with symptoms suggestive of retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis were evaluated in our institution between January 2008 and December 2011. Final diagnosis was made by means of a computed tomographic scan: 8 patients had retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis, 1 had retropharyngeal abscess, and the remaining 4 had other deep neck infections. The mean annual crude retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis incidence was 0.50 cases per 100,000 person-years, and the standardized incidence was 1.31 for the age-matched population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis is not a rare disease and is probably underdiagnosed because symptoms are nonspecific, treating physicians are often unfamiliar with this entity, and it is a self-limiting pathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, affiliated to Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. giladhorowitz@gmail.com
authors.forename: Gilad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Horowitz
authors.forename: Oded
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ben-Ari
authors.forename: Adi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.forename: Dan M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fliss
authors.forename: Oshri
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Wasserzug
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D007828:Laryngoscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D010614:Pharynx; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D035583:Rare Diseases; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D052256:Tendinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: computerized tomography; incidence; person-years; retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis