title: Silent chronic osteomyelitis lasting for 30 years before outburst of symptoms.
abstract: A 56-year-old male patient presented with left knee and thigh pain after suffering a knee contusion. History revealed a complex fracture of the distal femur 30 years prior to presentation. Initial blood tests upon admission showed elevated C reactive protein values. Subsequent imaging and biopsies showed a correlate to osteomyelitis, upon which the diagnosis of a late onset osteomyelitis as an outburst of silent chronic osteomyelitis was made. The patient was successfully treated surgically by means of aggressive debridement and discharged after confirmation of negative biopsies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sufian S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kohl
authors.forename: Dimitrios Stergios
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Evangelopoulos
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krüger
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003646:Debridement; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein