RESUMO
Fusobacterium spp. are Gram negative anaerobe bacteria. Vertebral osteomyelitis caused by these bacteria is very unusual; in fact, we could only find 11 cases in the literature. We report the case of a male, 46 year-old patient who had had lumbar pain for several weeks that irradiated to the right leg, and did not respond to NSAID treatment. The work-up included MRI, biopsy with draining of the collection and a universal PCR followed by 16S rDNA sequencing. The latter was used to make the microbiologic diagnosis, which identified Fusobacterium nucleatum as the causative agent. Final treatment consisted of clindamycin. In conclusion, spondylodiscitis due to Fusobacterium spp. is a rare and difficult to diagnose entity, due both to its clinical characteristics and to the difficulty in making the right microbiologic diagnosis. Vertebral biopsy and molecular microbiologic techniques such as Universal PCR rDNa, are essential to identifying the organism, making the diagnosis and prescribing appropriate antibiotic therapy.
Assuntos
Discite/diagnóstico , Discite/microbiologia , Infecções por Fusobacterium/diagnóstico , Fusobacterium nucleatum , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-IdadeRESUMO
A 15-year-old boy presented with a gunshot wound in the left cerebellar hemisphere. He was confused and left cerebellar signs were noted. The patient underwent the first surgery for debridement of the entry wound in the left parietal region and second surgery to remove the bullet. However, the bullet could not be located via a left unilateral suboccipital craniectomy in the park bench position, because it had migrated to the opposite side due to the effects of gravity in just a few hours. Skull radiography obtained just before the third surgery showed that the bullet had returned to the left side, and it was removed easily via the previous craniectomy in the sitting position. The clinical course suggests that in removing a bullet, skull radiography or computed tomography should be obtained just before surgery, or even intraoperatively, and that those findings should be the basis for the surgical procedure and operative position.