Abstract

Bone fluorosis is a rare metabolic disease characterized by massive bone fixation of fluorine. It is seen endemically around phosphate mines in North Africa. Neurologic complications, such as medullar compression may rarely reveal the disease. We report a case of cervical myelopathy due to bone fluorosis causing tetraparesis. Medullar compression was caused by posterior vertebral ligament calcification. Diagnosis was based on the characteristic radiologic aspect, and confirmed by the dosage of serum a

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    OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF) is increasingly being recognized as a cause of myeloradiculopathy. However, the cause of such OLF has been identified only occasionally. The purpose of this case report is to highlight one more cause of OLF causing myelopathy. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: Two middle-aged men residing

  • Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and fluorosis

    There is only one report of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) in patients suffering from fluorosis. Deshpande, Dinakarand Reddy (1976) mention an association with fluorosis in 14 of 26 cases. OPLL is not mentioned in two reviews of fluorosis (Jolly 1981; Reddy and Reddy 1987). Patients. In our neurological service,

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  • [Etiology and treatment of postoperative spinal cord injury for patients undergoing laminectomy for fluorosis thoracic canal stenosis].

    OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the etiology of postoperative spinal cord injury (PSCI) for patients undergoing laminectomy for fluorosis thoracic canal stenosis (FTCS) and summarize the methods of diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: From 2006 to 2009, a total of 192 FTCS cases underwent laminectomy. Among them, 16 cases with gradual postoperative neural deterioration were finally

  • Compressive myelopathy in fluorosis: MRI

    We examined four patients with fluorosis, presenting with compressive myelopathy, by MRI, using spin-echo and fast low-angle shot sequences. Cord compression due to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL) and ligamentum flavum (LF) was demonstrated in one and ossification of only the LF in one. Marrow signal was observed in

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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.

  • Fluoride & Spinal Stenosis

    Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spaces in the spine that results in pressure being placed on the spinal cord and/or nerve roots. Although stenosis can develop without symptoms, it may produce numbness, tingling, pain and difficulty in walking, as well as a heavy/tired feeling in the legs. It is estimated that 250,000 to 500,000 Americans currently have symptoms of spinal stenosis. Skeletal fluorosis is one cause of stenosis.

  • 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.

  • Skeletal Fluorosis & Individual Variability

    One of the common fallacies in the research on skeletal fluorosis is the notion that there is a uniform level of fluoride that is safe for everyone in the population. These "safety thresholds" have been expressed in terms of (a) bone fluoride content, (b) daily dose, (c) water fluoride level, (d) urinary fluoride level, and (e) blood fluoride level. The central fallacy with each of these alleged safety thresholds, however, is that they ignore the wide range of individual susceptibility in how people respond to toxic substances, including fluoride.