Objective To investigate swallowing characteristics of patients with dysphagia caused by anterior cervical osteophytes (ACOs) and compare clinical courses according to treatment options.
Methods A retrospective analysis of 1,866 videofluoroscopic swallowing studies (VFSS) of patients with ACOs from electronic medical records was performed. Patients with other diseases that could explain the dysphagia were excluded. Dysphagia characteristics and severity and clinical and radiological characteristics of subjects with ACOs were evaluated. Dysphagia characteristics and clinical course were compared among three treatment groups: surgical treatment, swallowing rehabilitation, and conservative treatment.
Results Subjects were 22 men and 1 woman with a mean age of 78.69±8.01 years. The mean osteophyte thickness was 9.07±3.84 mm. It was significantly thicker in the surgical group than that in other groups (p=0.01). ACOs were most frequently found at C5 level. This level also had the thickest osteophytes. However, videofluoroscopic dysphagia scales (VDS) were not significantly different among the three treatment groups. The pharyngeal phase score of the VDS was significantly higher in the surgical group (p=0.041). Dysphagia severity was decreased significantly in the surgical group at 3 months after the initial VFSS (p=0.004).
Conclusion The main swallowing characteristics in patients with ACOs were dysphagia features of the pharyngeal phase, including inappropriate airway protection, decreased laryngeal elevation, and reduced epiglottis inversion. When determining treatment options, it may be helpful to consider dysphagia severity at pharyngeal phase and osteophyte thickness.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Cervical osteophytes resulting in dysphagia: A case report with literature review Hoshmand R. Asaad, Sivan H. Salih, Dana T. Gharib, Shaho F. Ahmed, Karokh F. HamaHussein, Deari A. Ismaeil, Hezha A. Mohammed, Azad S. Hattam, Sarwat T. San Ahmed, Twana Omer Saeed, Berun A. Abdalla, Fahmi H. Kakamad Radiology Case Reports.2026; 21(2): 752. CrossRef
Esophageal and Oropharyngeal Dysphagia: Clinical Recommendations From the United European Gastroenterology and European Society for Neurogastroenterology and Motility Amir Mari, Francesco Calabrese, Andrea Pasta, Greta Lorenzon, Bas Weusten, Jutta Keller, Pierfrancesco Visaggi, Sabine Roman, Elisa Marabotto, Ram Dickman, Jordi Serra, Nicola De Bortoli, Paola Iovino, Daniel Pohl, Dan Dumitrascu, Mentore Ribolsi, Claudia United European Gastroenterology Journal.2025; 13(6): 855. CrossRef
Ventral osteophytes of the first two cervical vertebrae as a cause of dysphagia, surgical treatment (clinical case) A. S. Nikitin, R. M. Nanaev, O. B. Kulakov, O. V. Levchenko Russian journal of neurosurgery.2025; 27(2): 113. CrossRef
Advancing modified barium swallow pre-sorting with deep learning: a new paradigm for the first step analysis in X-ray swallowing study Shitong Mao, Mohamed A. Naser, Sheila Buoy, Kristy K. Brock, Katherine A. Hutcheson International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Cervical Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) as an Underrecognized Cause of Dysphagia: A Case Series and Review of the Literature Emmanouela Dionysia Laskaratou, Ioannis Sperelakis, Nikolaos Trygonis, Rozalia Dimitriou, Georgios Kontakis Cureus.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Dysphagia as the main symptom in anterior cervical spine osteophytes (Forestier disease and cervical spondylosis deformans). Case reports and literature review A.V. Trashin, N.V. Vikherev, E.M. Belov, V.A. Shamanin, V.V. Stepanenko Burdenko's Journal of Neurosurgery.2024; 88(2): 69. CrossRef
A Case of Dysphagia Due to Large Osteophytic Lesions in the Cervical Spine: A Conservative Approach Christos Lyrtzis, Alexandros Poutoglidis, Athina Stamati, Nikolaos Lazaridis, George Paraskevas Cureus.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Diagnosis and Management of Anatomical Causes of Dysphagia: From Hypopharynx to Upper Esophagus Min Woo Park Journal of the Korean Dysphagia Society.2023; 13(1): 8. CrossRef
The Impact of Cervical Spinal Disease on Pharyngeal Swallowing Function Rameen K. Walters, Rachana Gudipudi, Kate Davidson, Melissa Cooke, Jenna Barengo, Drasti Smyre, Kendrea L. Garand, Bonnie Martin-Harris, Maria G. Matheus, Shaun A. Nguyen, Ashli K. O'Rourke American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.2023; 32(2): 565. CrossRef
Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery Complicated With Dysphagia Liu Wei, Li Sulian, Li Tonglian, Zhang Yan, Liu Zongchao Orthopaedic Nursing.2023; 42(5): 297. CrossRef
Spinal Osteophytosis: An Uncommon Cause of Dysphagia Andreia De Matos, Cristiane Macedo, Patrícia Afonso Mendes GE - Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology.2022; 29(3): 215. CrossRef
Disfagia por osteofitose cervical anterior: relato de caso Mateus Morais Aires, Gabriela Marie Fukumoto, Sarah Lima Ribeiro, Leonardo Haddad, Eliézia Helena de Lima Alvarenga CoDAS.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Zero‐Profile Implant System for Treatment of Dysphagia Caused by Noncontiguous Anterior Cervical Osteophytes—A Case Report with Literature Review Zihan Peng, Hao Liu, Ying Hong, Yang Meng Orthopaedic Surgery.2022; 14(10): 2782. CrossRef
Giant Anterior Cervical Osteophyte Causing Dysphagia Sang Joon Kang, Hoe Jong Jeong, Won Cheol Jeong, Sang-Won Ha, Seung Min Kim Journal of the Korean Neurological Association.2022; 40(3): 267. CrossRef
Aggravation of dysphagia after surgical removal of anterior cervical osteophytes: a case report Young-In Go, Gi-Wook Kim, Yu-Hui Won, Sung-Hee Park, Myoung-Hwan Ko, Jeong-Hwan Seo, Da-Sol Kim Journal of International Medical Research.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Anterior Cervical Osteophyte Resection for Treatment of Dysphagia Joshua M. Kolz, Mohammed A. Alvi, Atiq R. Bhatti, Marko N. Tomov, Mohamad Bydon, Arjun S. Sebastian, Benjamin D. Elder, Ahmad N. Nassr, Jeremy L. Fogelson, Bradford L. Currier, Brett A. Freedman Global Spine Journal.2021; 11(4): 488. CrossRef
Impact of Osteophytectomy on Swallowing Function in a Patient with Chronic Dysphagia Melissa M Howard, Justin Phillips, Stefan Henley, Sarah E. Green, Emily R. Rosario OBM Geriatrics.2021; 05(03): 1. CrossRef
Ostéophytes vertébraux : une cause rare de dysphagie chez le sujet jeune M. Le Guen, G. Lahlou, S. Le Burel, T. Chaara, H. Nielly, H. Vanquaethem, L. Gilardin La Revue de Médecine Interne.2019; 40: A112. CrossRef
First
Prev
