Anterior cervical osteophytosis as a cause of dyspnoea and stridor

Description

A 77-year-old man with no history of respiratory disease presented with a 12-hour history of dyspnoea, stridor, non-productive cough and rhinorrhoea. He denied other symptoms such as dysphagia and dysphonia. Physical examination showed diminished vesicular breath sounds and stridor, although there were no vocal cord abnormalities in the laryngoscopic evaluation. The laboratory results and the posteroanterior chest radiograph revealed no significant abnormalities.

In order to exclude an airway obstruction, a cervical radiograph was obtained. The exam showed anterior osteophytosis involving the lower segment of the cervical spine (figure 1). A CT scan confirmed the diagnosis, revealing a tracheal narrowing due to anterior osteophytosis between C5 and C7 associated with thickening of adjacent soft tissues (figure 2).

Figure 1

Cervical radiograph showing extensive osteophytosis in the anterior aspects of the lower cervical vertebrae.

Figure 2

Cervical CT scan...

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