title: Thoracic vertebral osteomyelitis secondary to chronic esophageal perforation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Osteomyelitis secondary to perforation of the esophagus is a rare condition. Thoracic osteomyelitis after chronic esophageal perforation has never been described in the literature.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We report a case of vertebral osteomyelitis resulting from a chronic esophageal perforation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case report/University hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 52-year-old woman presented with dysphagia, severe mid back, and epigastric pain over a 6-week period. Endoscopic and radiological investigations revealed the presence of a paraspinal inflammatory mass protruding into the posterior esophageal wall. Two weeks after admission, the patient developed septic complications which required surgical intervention. This revealed the presence of an esophageal perforation and osteomyelitis of the T4-T5 and T7-T8 vertebrae. After T-tube closure of the esophageal perforation along with surgical debridement of the vertebrae and a 6-week course of antibiotics, the patient made a sound recovery. However, there was persistence of back pain with exaggerated thoracic spine kyphosis at T7-T8 which needed thoracic spine stabilization with pedicle screw instrumentation and fusion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This treatment led to complete recovery with no recurrence of symptoms at 8-months' follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To date this is the first case of thoracic osteomyelitis secondary to a chronic esophageal perforation to be reported in the literature. A high index of suspicion of this diagnosis is warranted in patients who present with similar clinical and radiological findings to enable prompt diagnosis and avoid the high mortality of esophageal perforation.
authors.affiliation: Freeman Hospital and Royal Victoria Infirmary, Freeman Road, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Loveena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sreedharan
authors.forename: Palaniappan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lakshmanan
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shenfine
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: S Michael
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Griffin
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D004939:Esophageal Perforation / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D004947:Esophagus / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013123:Spinal Fusion; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery