Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal Iran Red Crescent Med J 2011; 13(6):440-441 ©Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Anterior cervical spine fusion and plate fixation is a valuable procedure for the treatment of cervical spinal injury, spondylitic disease and intervertebral disc dis-eases.1 Esophageal perforation is one of the rare but serious complications following anterior cervical spi-nal surgery. Esophageal injury is usually due to the surgical exposure or the foreign metallic implant which usually manifests in the early post operative period. Potential risk factors include revision spine surgery, difficult surgical exposures, surgery for spine trauma, and a prior history of esophageal disease or surgery. Esophageal injury due to a broken metallic implant is very rare. A forty-six-year-old man who was involved in an accident underwent a lower partial corpectomy of the seventh cervical vertebral body