Forestier disease is one of the rare non-inflammatory diseases of the bone system that is characterized by the formation of bone tissue in the tendons, ligaments. As a result of the pathological process, ossification of the ligaments occurs and ankylosis develops( immobility).
The most common fixing hyperostosis is recorded in middle-aged people. According to statistics, the disease affects men more than women. Often, patients with Forestier's disease have background diseases, for example, hypertension.
Etiology of
Until now, the cause of the development of a fixing hyperostosis has not been identified. There is an assumption that the elderly age plays an important role in the development of the disease, when aging processes are activated in the connective tissue.
Some doctors suggest that to provoke Forestier's disease can also chronic intoxication, which develops if the body has foci of infection - purulent otitis media, tonsillitis, tuberculosis, sinusitis.
The most common manifestations of
The symptoms of that occur in patients with Forestier disease are most often associated with stiffness and slight discomfort in the spine. Often a person pays attention to the rare pains, often occurring in the thoracic or cervical spine. Such feelings occur at the end of the working day or after a dream, as well as as a result of prolonged physical activity, frequent stay in the cold. In some patients, the pain is long-lasting, while in others it is short-lived.
To see the characteristic changes in the structure of the spine of the on radiographic shots is not immediately possible. They are found out in 10-15 years from the moment of occurrence of the first complaints. Pain syndrome sometimes indicates not only the disease Forestier, but also a number of other dystrophic changes occurring in the spine of a person.
The most common complaints of patients :
- Restriction of movement in individual parts of the spine in the morning or evening hours;
- Dysphagia;
- Aching in large joints;
- Calcification of Achilles tendons, patellar ligaments, quadriceps: tenderness of soft tissues.
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Diagnostic measures to detect the disease
The patient is referred to the for an examination to the orthopedist or traumatologist , who base their diagnosis on the data of a radiological study of the spine. The photo shows the areas of ossification. But Forestier's disease can not always be determined with the help of radiography: sometimes fixing hyperostosis is revealed after ten years from the onset of the disease.
It is possible to suspect the disease in the event that, after carrying out an X-ray study, several pathological lesions in different parts of the spinal column are immediately apparent. Otherwise, the disease is easily confused with spondylosis.
The lateral roentgenography of allows to prove that with fixing hyperostosis, calcification occurs not only in the intervertebral discs, but also in the bodies of the vertebrae.
The late period of the disease is characterized by the identification of bone strata on radiographic images, the thickness of which is about 1.5 cm.
A distinctive feature is the uniformity of bone growths throughout the entire vertebral column.
Laboratory diagnostics confirms the absence of an inflammatory process in the body. In blood tests, all indicators are normal, and c-reactive protein and rheumatoid factor are not detected. It is possible to increase the level of glucose in the blood.
The most effective ways to treat the pathology of
Drug treatment of the disease implies the appointment of anti-inflammatory drugs, the purpose of which is to reduce pain in the joints. According to 
, the doctor's prescription is given glucocorticosteroids, and also the treatment of peripheral arthritis with drugs such as diclofenac, sulfasalazine.
Non-medicamentous treatment Forestier's disease consists in carrying out exercise therapy : visiting the pool, practicing special exercises, thanks to which the spine becomes more flexible, and the lying muscles are more stretched. Motorists must use headrests while using the vehicle.
All patients are recommended to sleep on a hard mattress, keep their posture while they are moving.
If the disease progresses, then arthroplasty is performed, the purpose of which is to improve joint performance. With kyphosis in the thoracic spine, osteotomy is performed. If ankylosing spondylitis develops, surgeons conduct an electrocardiostimulator.
