Cervical osteophytes: a rare cause of obstructive sleep apnea

Uncertain etiology of cervical osteophytes, in particular emerging in geriatric population, is a rare skeletal system disease. Often, the cases are asymptomatic and may lead to symptoms such as dysphagia, cough, dyspnea, and dysphonia. We present a patient who had anterior osteophytes causing symptoms of severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and literature on etiology of OSA has been reviewed. A 57-year-old male patient with complaints of snoring and cessation of breathing during sleep was referred to the ear nose throat clinic. Cervical radiograph and computed tomography showed the osteophytes in the anterior of the vertebral corpus at the level C1-2. In addition, bridging osteophyte was observed between C6 and C7 vertebrae. The patient's neck circumference was 41 cm, body mass index was 29 kg/m2, Epworth Sleepiness Scale score was 11, and apnea hypopnea index was 62. Surgery was recommended, but the patient refused. Continuous positive airway pressure titration was applied with 12.6 cm H2O pressure; apnea control was attained with an AHI of 2.7. One of the rare causes of OSA, a case of cervical vertebral osteophyte, was presented, and we would like to draw attention to the importance of ear nose throat examination in the diagnosis of OSA.