Disease Information for Diffuse idiopath.skeletal hyperostosis (DISH)

Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis; DISH; Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis; Forestier"s Disease ; Spinal DISH; Spinal Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis ; Vertebral Ankylosing Hyperostosis ; This disease is also known by other names, including spondylitis ossificans ligamentosa, spondylosis hyperostotica, senile ankylosing hyperostosis of the spine, Forestier"s disease, spondylosis deformans and vertebral osteophytosis;

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), also known as Forestier’s disease, affects the ligaments around the spine; Sections of the ligaments turn into bone in this disorder, which is considered to be a form of degenerative arthritis; The conversion of ligamental tissue to bone usually extends along the sides of the vertebrae of the spine; (This may be called flowing calcification;) Also, DISH is associated with inflammation (tendinitis) and calcification of the tendons, especially at the points at which the tendon attaches to the bones; When this happens, the patient is said to have developed bone spurs, especially in the heel and ankles (heel spurs); DISH affects three or more vertebrae that are most often located in the chest or in the spine between the chest and pelvis; It is a disorder of older patients, more often affecting men than women ages 50-60; The disorder is often found in association with diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity;

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Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (dish) is a disorder of unknown cause characterized by excessive bone fomation at skeletal sites subject to normal or abnormal stresses, generally where tendons and ligaments attach to bone; The spine is the predominant site of involvement, although extraspinal sites may also be affected; Some patients may develop ossification after surgery or in response to coexistent diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis;;

Three criteria are required to diagnosis spinal involvement in DISH: 1]flowing calcification and ossification along the anterolateral aspect of at least four contiguous vertebral bodies with or without pointed excrescences; 2] relative preservation of intervertebral disc height and absence of extensive changes typical of degenerative disc disease; and3] absence of bone ankylosis of the apophyseal joints or of erosion, sclerosis, or intra-articular osseous fusion of the sacroiliac joints;

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