Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Mar;48(2):220-2.
doi: 10.4103/0019-5413.128773.

Disseminated Fusarium oxysporum neurospinal infection

Pe Sreedharan Namboothiri  1 , Sreehari Narayanan Nair  1 , Krishnan Vijayan  2 , Vk Visweswaran  3
Affiliations

Disseminated Fusarium oxysporum neurospinal infection

Pe Sreedharan Namboothiri et al. Indian J Orthop. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

We report a case of disseminated meningospondylodiscitis in an elderly diabetic patient caused by Fusarium oxysporum. As the clinical presentation was nonspecific, the diagnosis of the condition could only be arrived at after laboratory and imaging studies. The diagnosis of the condition requires a high index of suspicion. Patient underwent thorough surgical debridement along with a short course of variconazole and remained asymptomatic after 36 months of diagnosis. Fusarium is a large genus of filamentous fungi widely distributed in soil and in association with plants. It is known to cause local infections (nail, cornea) in healthy humans and disseminated infection only in the immunocompromised.

Keywords: Disseminated fungal meningospondylodiscitis; Fusarium oxysporum; voriconazole.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Magnetic resonance imaging brain contrast enhanced T1 sagittal section showing multiple ring enhancing lesions in the brain parenchyma (b-c) Preoperative T1W sagittal magnetic resonance imaging showing spondylodiscitis D8-D9
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) X-ray Thoracic spine anteroposterior view showing decompression of D8, D9, fusion and posterior instrumentation (b) X-ray Thoracolumbar spine lateral view 30 months postoperative film showing good fusion
Figure 3
Figure 3
Followup magnetic resonance imaging brain showing resolution of lesions
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Frazier DD, Campbell DR, Garvey TA, Wiesel S, Bohlman HH, Eismont FJ. Fungal infections of the spine. Report of eleven patients with longterm followup. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2001;83-A:560–5. - PubMed
    1. Gouliouris T, Aliyu SH, Brown NM. Spondylodiscitis: Update on diagnosis and management. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2010;65(Suppl 3):iii11–24. - PubMed
    1. Titlic M, Josipovic-Jelic Z. Spondylodiscitis. Bratisl Lek Listy. 2008;109:345–7. - PubMed
    1. Modic MT, Feiglin DH, Piraino DW, Boumphrey F, Weinstein MA, Duchesneau PM, et al. Vertebral osteomyelitis: Assessment using MR. Radiology. 1985;157:157–66. - PubMed
    1. Sharif HS. Role of MR imaging in the management of spinal infections. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1992;158:1333–45. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources