title: Vertebral osteomyelitis due to Capnocytophaga.
abstract: The first case of vertebral Capnocytophaga infection in an immunocompetent subject is reported. The patient was a 75-year-old woman with low back pain and a decline in general health. Plain roentgenograms disclosed erosions in the upper endplate of L4 and the lower endplate of L3 with no lesions of the intervening disk. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed that the disk was normal. The organism was identified only by a repeat vertebral biopsy with bacteriologic cultures in a CO2-enriched atmosphere. The patient achieved a full recovery. Patients with suspected bone infections should be evaluated for portals of entry (Capnocytophaga is a normal inhabitant of the oral cavity) and should undergo multiple microbiological studies aimed at detecting a broad range of organisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, CHLS, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piroth
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tebib
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Noel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouvier
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002206:Capnocytophaga; D005260:Female; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections; D006801:Humans; D007121:Immunocompetence; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology*; D011859:Radiography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013166:Spondylitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology*