Cervical Osteomyelitis with Thoracic Myelitis and Meningitis in a Diabetic Patient
A 45-year-old man with a history of untreated diabetes mellitus had a persisting fever, back pain, and diarrhea. The primary care physician diagnosed the patient with the flu and gastroenteritis. The patient developed paraplegia for two weeks and was admitted to another hospital. The physician in th...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Clinical Medicine Insights: Case Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.4137/CCRep.S21678 |
| _version_ | 1818149125685772288 |
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| author | Yu-ichiro Ohnishi Koichi Iwatsuki Shiromaru Ishida Toshiki Yoshimine |
| author_facet | Yu-ichiro Ohnishi Koichi Iwatsuki Shiromaru Ishida Toshiki Yoshimine |
| author_sort | Yu-ichiro Ohnishi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A 45-year-old man with a history of untreated diabetes mellitus had a persisting fever, back pain, and diarrhea. The primary care physician diagnosed the patient with the flu and gastroenteritis. The patient developed paraplegia for two weeks and was admitted to another hospital. The physician in this hospital suspected infectious meningitis and myelitis, and administered piperacillin and steroids without cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination. On referral to our hospital, he presented a high fever and complete paraplegia. The lumbar puncture revealed a yellowish CSF, polynucleosis, and hypoglycorrhachia. Bacteria were not detected on Gram's staining and were not confirmed by CSF culture. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed no thoracolumbar lesion and suggested a cervical epidural abscess without any spinal cord compression. He was diagnosed as having osteomyelitis with meningitis and thoracic myelitis. The infection subsided with broadspectrum antibiotics. After two weeks, bilateral sensorimotor disturbances of the upper extremities appeared. MRI findings showed the epidural abscess compressing the cervical spinal cord. We performed debridement of the epidural abscess. The infection was clinically controlled by using another antibiotic. One month after the infection subsided, a 360° reconstruction was performed. In this case, the misdiagnosis and the absence of CSF examination and culture to detect the pathogenic bacteria at an earlier stage in the patient's disease course might have led to the exacerbation of the pathology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T13:02:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-97024edf2194448aa392f8db6c915c95 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1179-5476 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T13:02:04Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clinical Medicine Insights: Case Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-97024edf2194448aa392f8db6c915c952022-12-22T01:06:26ZengSAGE PublishingClinical Medicine Insights: Case Reports1179-54762015-01-01810.4137/CCRep.S21678Cervical Osteomyelitis with Thoracic Myelitis and Meningitis in a Diabetic PatientYu-ichiro Ohnishi0Koichi Iwatsuki1Shiromaru Ishida2Toshiki Yoshimine3Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Osaka, Japan.Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Osaka, Japan.Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Osaka, Japan.Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Osaka, Japan.A 45-year-old man with a history of untreated diabetes mellitus had a persisting fever, back pain, and diarrhea. The primary care physician diagnosed the patient with the flu and gastroenteritis. The patient developed paraplegia for two weeks and was admitted to another hospital. The physician in this hospital suspected infectious meningitis and myelitis, and administered piperacillin and steroids without cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination. On referral to our hospital, he presented a high fever and complete paraplegia. The lumbar puncture revealed a yellowish CSF, polynucleosis, and hypoglycorrhachia. Bacteria were not detected on Gram's staining and were not confirmed by CSF culture. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed no thoracolumbar lesion and suggested a cervical epidural abscess without any spinal cord compression. He was diagnosed as having osteomyelitis with meningitis and thoracic myelitis. The infection subsided with broadspectrum antibiotics. After two weeks, bilateral sensorimotor disturbances of the upper extremities appeared. MRI findings showed the epidural abscess compressing the cervical spinal cord. We performed debridement of the epidural abscess. The infection was clinically controlled by using another antibiotic. One month after the infection subsided, a 360° reconstruction was performed. In this case, the misdiagnosis and the absence of CSF examination and culture to detect the pathogenic bacteria at an earlier stage in the patient's disease course might have led to the exacerbation of the pathology.https://doi.org/10.4137/CCRep.S21678 |
| spellingShingle | Yu-ichiro Ohnishi Koichi Iwatsuki Shiromaru Ishida Toshiki Yoshimine Cervical Osteomyelitis with Thoracic Myelitis and Meningitis in a Diabetic Patient Clinical Medicine Insights: Case Reports |
| title | Cervical Osteomyelitis with Thoracic Myelitis and Meningitis in a Diabetic Patient |
| title_full | Cervical Osteomyelitis with Thoracic Myelitis and Meningitis in a Diabetic Patient |
| title_fullStr | Cervical Osteomyelitis with Thoracic Myelitis and Meningitis in a Diabetic Patient |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cervical Osteomyelitis with Thoracic Myelitis and Meningitis in a Diabetic Patient |
| title_short | Cervical Osteomyelitis with Thoracic Myelitis and Meningitis in a Diabetic Patient |
| title_sort | cervical osteomyelitis with thoracic myelitis and meningitis in a diabetic patient |
| url | https://doi.org/10.4137/CCRep.S21678 |
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