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A rare case of tertiary syphilis spondylodiscitis of the upper cervical spine: Diagnostic and therapeutic complexity, review of literature
- Source :
- Orthopedic Reviews, Orthopedic Reviews, Vol 12, Iss 1s (2020)
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Open Medical Publishing, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetes Treponema pallidum. Syphilitic spinal lesions present as erosive bone lesions often simulating spondylodiscitis or cancer. In this article we describe a rare case of cervical osteolytic lesion from tertiary syphilis. A 45-year-old male with axial neck pain, without fever presented with an isolated osteolytic lesion at C3. Tuberculous spondylitis was initially suspected. A new CT and contrast enhanced MRI of the cervical spine and of the neck showed an extention of the bone lesion at C3 with bilateral lymphadenomegaly. To confirm the diagnosis of tertiary syphilis, US-guided biopsy of the lymph nodes was performed. The patient was treated with i.m. benzylpenicillin 2.4 MIU and the follow-up showed clinical and radiological resolution of the condition. The aim of this case report is to raise awareness of tertiary syphilis in the differential diagnosis of lytic lesions of the spine among the spinal community.
- Subjects :
- Sexually transmitted disease
Spondylodiscitis
medicine.medical_specialty
VDRL test
Case Report
Tertiary Syphilis
Biopsy
medicine
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Treponema pallidum
Spondylitis
Orthopedic surgery
Neck pain
medicine.diagnostic_test
business.industry
Tertiary syphilis
Benzylpenicillin
medicine.disease
Syphilis
Radiology
medicine.symptom
Differential diagnosis
Tertiary syphili
business
RD701-811
Osteolytic spinal lesion
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20358164 and 20358237
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Orthopedic Reviews
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....f7c7b187e2659156f9698379f31b3ec0