Early Acute Hematogenous Osteomyelitis Detected by Bone Scintigraphy but not MRI

Extramedullary Infiltration of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Multiple Organs on FDG PET/CT

Concurrent extramedullary infiltration in multiple organs is uncommon in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A 21-year-old woman who presented fatigue had a new diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia underwent FDG PET/CT. The images demonstrated extramedullary infiltration in multiple organs, including the liver, pancreas, kidney and the bone. However, no clinical signs or laboratory tests were suggestive of the involvement of these organs. After four cycles of chemotherapy, the patient's symptoms were relieved and all previously visualized abnormal activity disappeared on the follow-up FDG PET/CT.

Bone and Joint Infections in Children: Acute Hematogenous Osteomyelitis

Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHO) is one of the commonest bone infection in childhood. Staphylococcus aureus is the commonest organism causing AHO. With use of advanced diagnostic methods, fastidious Kingella kingae is increasingly becoming an important organism in etiology of osteoarticular infections in children under the age of 3 y. The diagnosis of AHO is primarily clinical. The main clinical symptom and sign in AHO is pain and tenderness over the affected bone especially in the metaphyseal region. However, in a neonate the clinical presentation may be subtle and misleading. Laboratory and radiological investigations supplement the clinical findings. The acute phase reactants such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) are frequently elevated. Ultrasonography and MRI are key imaging modalities for early detection of AHO. Determination of infecting organism in AHO is the key to the correct antibiotic choice, treatment duration and overall management and therefore, organism isolation using blood cultures and site aspiration should be attempted. Several effective antibiotics regimes are available for managing AHO in children. The choice of antibiotic and its duration and mode of delivery requires individualization depending upon severity of infection, causative organism, regional sensitivity patterns, time elapsed between onset of symptoms and child's presentation and the clinical and laboratory response to the treatment. If pus has been evidenced in the soft tissues or bone region, surgical decompression of abscess is mandatory.

99mTc-MAA Pulmonary Scintigraphy in Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia

A 5-year-old boy was admitted due to shortness of breath. Blood gas analysis showed hypoxemia. However, thoracic and abdominal CT, brain MRI, and MR angiography were all normal. A Tc-MAA pulmonary scintigraphy revealed right-to-left shunting of the blood. Further genetic analysis showed the mutations in the activin receptor-like kinase 1 gene, and a diagnosis of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia was made.

Acute Primary Hematogenous Osteomyelitis in the Epiphysis of the Distal Tibia: A Case Report With Review of the Literature

Osteomyelitis originating in the epiphysis of the long bones is quite rare and is usually found at either the distal femur or the proximal tibia. We report the case of a 12-year-old male with epiphyseal osteomyelitis that had developed in the distal tibia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first published case report. The patient's history of a trauma that resembled an ankle sprain had delayed the diagnosis and subsequently led him to develop septic arthritis. The ankle is a common site of simple trauma; however, epiphyseal osteomyelitis is rare at this site. Therefore, if the symptoms continue or worsen after trauma, the clinician should check the affected site and take a more aggressive approach to make an early diagnosis.

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 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 broad-spectrum 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.

(99m)Tc-methylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy findings in posttransplant distal limb syndrome

We report a case of posttransplant distal limb syndrome (PTDLS) representing a rare complication in kidney transplant recipients characterized by a pain syndrome of the distal extremities. A 68-year-old man with a history of kidney transplantation presented with symmetrical and incapacitating pain in the feet and knees and underwent whole-body Tc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) scintigraphy for further evaluation. Planar scintigraphy demonstrated marked tracer uptake in the distal femoral and tibial epiphyses, and magnetic resonance imaging showed corresponding osteoedema. Tc-MDP scintigraphy is a valuable tool for evaluation of the etiology of musculoskeletal pain and may demonstrate typical findings in case of PTDLS.