Abstract

Skeletal fluorosis is endemic in some parts of the world and is the result of life-long ingestion of high amounts of fluoride in drinking water. Its clinical presentation is characterized mostly by bone and dental changes with later ossification of many ligaments and interosseous membranes. We present a rare case of high cervical myelopathy caused by ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and ligamentum flavum in a patient from an area endemic for skeletal fluorosis. The clinical presentation of skeletal fluorosis and treatment options are discussed.

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  • Spinal cord compression revealing fluorosis

    1. Introduction Bone fluorosis due to high fluoride contents in water and soil is endemic in North Africa and India. Neurological complications are rare. They consist of nerve root or spinal cord compression by bony excrescences, which predominate at the cervical spine. We report a new case of spinal cord compression

  • Thoracic myelopathy from coincident fluorosis and epidural lipomatosis

    Skeletal fluorosis is rare in North America. It can present with back pain and extremity weakness. Immobilization of the spine and the extremity joints can occur. It is usually caused by abnormally increased oral fluoride intake over many years. Epidural lipomatosis is usually caused by idiopathic obesity or corticosteroid use.

  • Fluorotic cervical compressive myelopathy, 20 years after laminectomy: A rare event

    BACKGROUND:  Spinal cord compression in flourosis is a common complication. These complications are mainly due to compression of the spinal cord by thickening and ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament and ligamentum flavum. Surgical decompression is the treatment of choice for fluorotic spinal cord compression. The recurrence of spinal cord compression

  • Radiculomyopathy in a southwestern Indian due to skeletal fluorosis

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  • [Fluorotic cervical spinal cord disease].

    Skeletal fluorosis was reported as a disease endemic to an area in the Madras Presidency of Indian in 1937 and prior to this, it was known as an occasional disease. There are two endemic areas in India, one in Punjab and the other in Andhra Pradesh State. This disease is also endemic

• Related FAN Content :

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  • Fluoride & Osteoarthritis

    While the osteoarthritic effects that occurred from fluoride exposure were once considered to be limited to those with skeletal fluorosis, recent research shows that fluoride can cause osteoarthritis in the absence of traditionally defined fluorosis. Conventional methods used for detecting skeletal fluorosis, therefore, will fail to detect the full range of people suffering from fluoride-induced osteoarthritis.

  • Skeletal Fluorosis: The Misdiagnosis Problem

    It is a virtual certainty that there are individuals in the general population unknowingly suffering from some form of skeletal fluorosis as a result of a doctor's failure to consider fluoride as a cause of their symptoms. Proof that this is the case can be found in the following case reports of skeletal fluorosis written by doctors in the U.S. and other western countries. As can be seen, a consistent feature of these reports is that fluorosis patients--even those with crippling skeletal fluorosis--are misdiagnosed for years by multiple teams of doctors who routinely fail to consider fluoride as a possible cause of their disease.

  • "Pre-Skeletal" Fluorosis

    As demonstrated by the studies below, skeletal fluorosis may produce adverse symptoms, including arthritic pains, clinical osteoarthritis, gastrointestinal disturbances, and bone fragility, before the classic bone change of fluorosis (i.e., osteosclerosis in the spine and pelvis) is detectable by x-ray. Relying on x-rays, therefore, to diagnosis skeletal fluorosis will invariably fail to protect those individuals who are suffering from the pre-skeletal phase of the disease. Moreover, some individuals with clinical skeletal fluorosis will not develop an increase in bone density, let alone osteosclerosis, of the spine. Thus, relying on unusual increases in spinal bone density will under-detect the rate of skeletal fluoride poisoning in a population.

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