ABSTRACT
STUDY DESIGN: A case report.- OBJECTIVE: To highlight the evaluation and treatment of neonatal infectious spondylitis of the cervical spine. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Most authors advise intravenous antibiotics as first-choice treatment. The place of aspiration or operative drainage is debated, as is the position and duration of immobilization. METHODS: A 3-week-old neonate was presented with intermittent quadriplegia. RESULTS: Additional investigation demonstrated an osteolytic process in the body of C3 with a large epidural abscess compressing the spinal cord. Because an infectious spondylitis of C3 was suspected, aspiration of the abscess was performed, and antibiotic therapy was started. The patient improved to neurologically normal within 3 weeks and remains asymptomatic throughout a follow-up period of 7 years. CONCLUSIONS: Neonatal infectious spondylitis should be diagnosed early and treated promptly; otherwise, it may have devastating consequences.
Subject(s)
Abscess/diagnosis , Cervical Vertebrae , Quadriplegia/diagnosis , Spondylitis/diagnosis , Staphylococcal Infections/diagnosis , Epidural Space , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Newborn, Diseases/diagnosis , Infant, Newborn, Diseases/microbiology , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Quadriplegia/microbiology , Spondylitis/microbiologyABSTRACT
In four patients, two men aged 59 and 68 years and two women aged 59 and 50 years, a unilateral rupture of the quadriceps tendon was diagnosed. In two patients the disease was initially misdiagnosed. A depression was palpable in all patients just on the proximal side of the patella. All patients were treated operatively and all recovered with satisfactory knee function. In order to obtain full recovery early aetiological diagnosis is important; quadriceps tendon rupture should be considered in patients with haemarthrosis and inability to stretch the knee.
