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Case Reports
. 2023 Sep 2;9(9):e19616.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19616. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Vertebral osteomyelitis secondary to Streptococcus cristatus infection

Helen Tran  1 , Angela Ai  1 , Oscar E Gallardo-Huizar  1 , Michael Kahn  1 , Glenn Mathisen  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Vertebral osteomyelitis secondary to Streptococcus cristatus infection

Helen Tran et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

A 66-year-old male with a history of low back pain was found to have discitis and osteomyelitis. Biopsy and PCR testing revealed Streptococcus cristatus infection. This bacteria does not typically cause disease, and only a few cases in the literature have reported it to cause infection in the bones or joints. This case illustrates that vertebral osteomyelitis with a rare causative agent, S. cristatus, is possible and can be identified with PCR. Treatment typically requires long-term antibiotics tailored to the causative agent for a minimum of 6 weeks and can sometimes include surgical management.

Keywords: Streptococcus cristatus; Vertebral osteomyelitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Image A
Image A
Lumbar Spine Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) showing discitis osteomyelitis at the L4–L5 level without evidence of epidural phlegmon or abscess. No spinal canal stenosis. Also, severe bilateral neural foraminal stenosis at L4–L5.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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