Dysphagia
As a systemic disease, Forestier’s disease can affect the entire body. One symptom of an affection of the cervical spine is dysphagia, i.e. swallowing problems. In older patients who have swallowing problems, Forestier’s disease should also be considered as a differential diagnosis.
An inspection of the pharynx is used as a purposeful examination, followed by a pap smear x-ray with contrast medium. The x-ray image can then reveal narrowing of the esophagus (the oesophagus). In addition to Forestier’s disease (named after a French doctor), there is another disease that causes similar symptoms, namely ankylosing spondylitis.
Here, too, stiffening occurs in the area of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. Unlike Forestier’s disease, however, the inflammatory values in the blood are usually elevated. In Bekhterev’s disease, the symptoms usually begin in the pelvic area. The ossifications of the two diseases can also be distinguished in the X-ray image.
