title: Aspergillus vertebral osteomyelitis in immunocompetent patients.
abstract: Fungal infections are one of the important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Aspergillus vertebral osteomyelitis is extremely rare. We report two cases of aspergillus vertebral osteomyelitis in immunocompetent men in the absence of an underlying disorder. The clinical and radiological findings were suggestive of Pott's spine. The absolute CD4, CD8 counts and their ratio were normal. The HIV status was negative in both patients. Both patients underwent surgical decompression. The histopathology of tissue obtained were suggestive of aspergillus osteomyelitis. One patient had antifungal treatment for 3 months and was doing well at 1 year followup, whereas other patient did not turnup after 2 months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Somika
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sethi
authors.forename: Fouzia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Siraj
authors.forename: Kl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kalra
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chopra