Ventral cervical spondylophytes as differential diagnosis of neurogenic dysphagia

Abstract

Ventral cervical spondylophytes can lead to severe dysphagia if they are of sufficient extent and height localization and represent an important differential diagnosis of neurogenic dysphagia, especially in older patients. Presentation of various etiologies of ventral cervical spondylophytes, specific symptoms and abnormalities of the swallowing function caused by spondylophytes, their manifestation in the instrumental swallowing diagnostics and an outlook on treatment options. Summary of the current literature on spondylophyte-related dysphagia and an overview of research results regarding differential diagnostic aspects of neurogenic dysphagia. The manifestation forms of ventral cervical spondylophytes can be very diverse. With respect to dysphagia, disorders of pharyngeal bolus transfer and an increased tendency to aspiration have been observed. The occurrence and severity of the symptoms depend primarily on the extent of the bony attachments and their height localization. In some cases, symptomatic ventral cervical spondylophytes can be arelevant differential diagnosis of neurogenic dysphagia. For amore precise evaluation of the dysphagic symptoms and their association with the spondylophytic outgrowths, avideo fluoroscopy of swallowing (VFS) should be added to the fiber endoscopic evaluation (FEES). In most cases, aresection of the bone spurs leads to asignificant improvement or even to acomplete restitution of the swallowing disorders.