title: Chest pain? An unusual presentation of vertebral osteomyelitis.
abstract: We present a case of vertebral osteomyelitis presenting as chest pain. The patient initially underwent a CT chest angiogram to rule out a pulmonary embolism, which incidentally showed a soft tissue vertebral mass at T3-T4 disk space. Subsequent thoracic vertebral MRI was consistent with osteomyelitis with cord compression. Tissue culture from a CT-guided biopsy grew MRSA. The patient was successfully treated with Vancomycin. This is a rare presentation of vertebral osteomyelitis which poses an interesting diagnostic challenge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, College of Medicine-Jacksonville, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32209, USA.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Landa
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giddings
authors.forename: Pramod
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reddy