title: [Osteolytic bone lesion: vertebral alveolar echinococcosis in a patient with splenectomy].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Osteolytic lesions are not always related to malignancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report an 82-year-old woman suffering from subcostal pain. The patient underwent a splenectomy 40 years previously. CT-scan and MRI highlighted a calcified hepatic lesion associated with an osteolytic lesion of the L5 vertebra. Osteolytic and hepatic lesions were attributed to an alveolar echinococcosis based on positive serological assays.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, this is the first report of an alveolar echinococcosis in a patient with splenectomy and secondary lesions. We suggest that the splenectomy could have promoted the parasite spreading to vertebra.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de parasitologie-mycologie, CHU Gabriel-Montpied, 58, rue Montalembert, 63003 Clermont-Ferrand cedex 1, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nourrisson
authors.affiliation: Service de rhumatologie, CHU Gabriel-Montpied, 63003 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mathieu
authors.affiliation: Service de maladies infectieuses, CHU Gabriel-Montpied, 63003 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beytout
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de parasitologie-mycologie, CHU Gabriel-Montpied, 58, rue Montalembert, 63003 Clermont-Ferrand cedex 1, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cambon
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de parasitologie-mycologie, CHU Gabriel-Montpied, 58, rue Montalembert, 63003 Clermont-Ferrand cedex 1, France. Electronic address: ppoirier@chu-clermontferrand.fr.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poirier
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D013156:Splenectomy
keywords: Alveolar echinococcosis; Bone lesion; Echinococcus multilocularis; Localisation osseuse; Splenectomy; Splénectomie; Échinococcose alvéolaire