title: Septic arthritis of a lumbar facet joint: detection with bone SPECT imaging.
abstract: We present a rare case of septic arthritis of a lumbar facet joint with an associated epidural abscess resulting from Staphylococcus aureus. The infection was initially detected with planar bone scintigraphy and precisely localized with single photon emission computed tomography bone scintigraphy, despite an initially negative radiologic evaluation that included radiographs of the lumbar spine, lumbar myelography, and a postmyelography x-ray computed tomography scan. In the appropriate clinical setting, a bone scan demonstrating unilateral increased activity within the spine should raise the suspicion of inflammatory involvement of the posterior elements.
authors: Dept. of Radiology, Morristown Memorial Hospital, NJ 07960.
authors: L C
authors: LC
authors: Swayne
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Dorsky
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Caruana
authors: I L
authors: IL
authors: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004164:Diphosphonates; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013667:Technetium; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: D004164:Diphosphonates; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; C060491:technetium Tc 99m hydroxydiphosphonate; D013667:Technetium