Actinomycotic osteomyelitis of the skull and atlas with late dissemination. A case of transient neurosurgical syndrome.
Actinomycosis of the skull and/or the vertebral column is extremely rare in previously healthy children and its diagnosis is difficult. A case is reported here involving the occipital bone and the atlas. The disease had started 4 years before diagnosis and presented as a neurosurgical affection in a 13-year-old-girl. The disease spread towards the retropharyngeal space and probably disseminated to the liver and the lung. Actinomyces israeli grew from cultures. Antibiotic treatment was successful.
D000190:Actinomyces / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000196:Actinomycosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D000293:Adolescent; D001270:Cervical Atlas / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed