Abstract

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 in some parts of China and Africa. The manual labourers are more frequently affected as they consume huge quantities of water with high fluoride levels. The cervical spine is often affected, manifesting as cord compression. Forty cases of fluorotic cervical cord compression, who underwent surgery are studied regarding their clinical features, radiological aspects and outcome following surgery. In selected cases of cervical fluorotic myelopathy, surgical decompression appears to be necessary and also rewarding.

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    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

  • Neurological complications of endemic skeletal fluorosis, with special emphasis on radiculo-myelopathy

    The results of surveys carried out between 1976 and 1985 in the fluorosis-endemic area of the Ethiopian Rift Valley is summarised, with emphasis on the neurological complications resulting from the crippling osteofluorosis. The neurological manifestations in the forms of myelopathy with and without radiculopathy (respectively 72% and 28%) occurred after exposure

  • 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

  • Fluorosis in Nalgonda District, Hyderabad-Deccan

    Details of inviestigations of 32 cases of skeletal fluorosis with neurological manifestations are described. The results of the eighth-nerve functions are reported. The probable factors responsible for early skeletal changes in patients from Kamaguda are discussed. A case is described in which excretion of previously stored fluoride continued in the

  • [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

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    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.

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    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.

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