Objective: To determine the incidence of retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis (longus colli tendinitis) in a general urban adult population.
Study design: Observational study in a municipal medical center.
Setting: Single tertiary referral center.
Methods: All symptomatic patients with a differential diagnosis of retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis underwent fiber-optic assessment, laboratory studies, and imaging studies. The main outcome measure was the incidence of retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis.
Results: Thirteen patients with symptoms suggestive of retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis were evaluated in our institution between January 2008 and December 2011. Final diagnosis was made by means of a computed tomographic scan: 8 patients had retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis, 1 had retropharyngeal abscess, and the remaining 4 had other deep neck infections. The mean annual crude retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis incidence was 0.50 cases per 100,000 person-years, and the standardized incidence was 1.31 for the age-matched population.
Conclusions: Retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis is not a rare disease and is probably underdiagnosed because symptoms are nonspecific, treating physicians are often unfamiliar with this entity, and it is a self-limiting pathology.
Keywords: computerized tomography; incidence; person-years; retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis.