Osteomyelitis variolosa: a case report

Abstract

Osteomyelitis variolosa is an infection of bone and joints by smallpox virus variola major, most commonly in the elbows, wrists, ankles, hands, and feet. We report one such case in a 70-year-old woman who presented with deformities of the right knee, both elbows and ankles, and the left hand, and a history of childhood fever with rashes. Her lateral femoral condyle of the right knee was hypoplastic with patella baja. Her right elbow was ankylosed and her left elbow was dislocated with multidirectional instability. Her third and fourth metacarpals on the left hand were shortened. Both ankles were stiff with valgus deformity; both taluses were destroyed.