A 47-year-old healthy woman presented with sudden-onset, severe neck pain and stiffness
associated with odynophagia, dysphagia, and low-grade fever (37.8°C). She described
it as severe neck pain extending into the deep neck and radiating upward to the occiput
and vertex of the head. She also complained of difficulty in opening her jaw and swallowing
due to throat pain. There was no preceding history of trauma, upper respiratory tract
infection, or dental infection. The laboratory data showed slight leukocytosis of
12,350 cells/μL (8,500 neutrophils/µL), as well as an increased erythrocyte sedimentation
rate of 55 mm/h and C-reactive protein of 43 mg/L. On physical examination, there
was a severely limited range of all neck motion, with marked nuchal rigidity. Kernig
and Brudzinski signs were not clearly positive. Mouth opening was difficult, but oropharyngeal
examination was normal. The patient was admitted with the differential diagnosis of
meningitis, retropharyngeal abscess, or infectious spondylitis.
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References
- Case reports about an overlooked cause of neck pain: calcific tendinitis of the longus colli: case reports.Medicine (Baltimore). 2017; 96: e8343
- Acute calcific tendinitis of the longus colli muscle: case report and review of the literature.Eur Spine J. 2013; 22: S434-S438
- Retropharyngealcalcific tendinitis: case report and review of the literature.Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2010; 39: 504-509
Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 02, 2018
Accepted:
April 11,
2018
Received in revised form:
April 10,
2018
Received:
March 16,
2018
Robert G. Stern, MD, Section EditorFootnotes
Funding: None.
Conflicts of Interest: None.
Authorship: The authors had access to the data and a role in writing this manuscript.
Ethics Approval: In accordance with the guidelines of our institutional ethics committee (Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Bellvitge University Hospital, IDIBELL), formal approval for this study was not required. The local ethics committee agreed that the findings in this report were based on normal clinical practice and were therefore suitable for dissemination. Informed consent was obtained from the patient. This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and the International Conference for Harmonization.
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Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
