A diagnostic dilemma of central skull base osteomyelitis mimicking neoplasia in a diabetic patient.
We present a case which illustrates the diagnostic difficulty in distinguishing between osteomyelitis of the central skull base and base of skull tumours. A woman in her early forties presented with seizures and multiple cranial nerve palsies. She also had a background of chronic otalgia and poorly controlled diabetes mellitus. The clinical diagnosis of skull base osteomyelitis (SBO) was made, but both MRI and bone scans were unable to distinguish this from a skull base malignancy on imaging criteria. Eventually biopsies were required to exclude the diagnosis of malignancy and the patient was treated for central SBO.
Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Australia. dasun_ganhewa@hotmail.com
Aparna Dasunmalee
AD
Ganhewa
Jafri
J
Kuthubutheen
D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001706:Biopsy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012888:Skull Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents