Q Fever Vertebral Osteomyelitis Complicating Vertebroplasty

Query (Q) fever is a zoonotic bacterial infection caused by Coxiella burnetii. In a minority of patients, chronic disease can occur after acute infection. Endocarditis and infections of aneurysms or vascular prostheses are the most common forms of chronic Q fever in adults. We report a case of an el...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Karina Dorfman, Ayelet Eran, Nesrin Ghanem-Zoubi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Rambam Health Care Campus 2021-01-01
Series:Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal
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Online Access:https://www.rmmj.org.il/issues/48/1168/manuscript
Description
Summary:Query (Q) fever is a zoonotic bacterial infection caused by Coxiella burnetii. In a minority of patients, chronic disease can occur after acute infection. Endocarditis and infections of aneurysms or vascular prostheses are the most common forms of chronic Q fever in adults. We report a case of an elderly female patient with chronic Q fever vertebral osteomyelitis at the site of her previous cement vertebroplasty, complicated by paravertebral abscess. Patient treatment required prolonged drainage in addition to the long duration of antibiotic treatment by doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine. Osteomyelitis is a rare clinical presentation in adults with chronic Q fever. However, it is important to consider Q fever in the differential diagnosis of culture-negative osteomyelitis, especially in countries where C. burnetii is endemic, such as Israel.
ISSN:2076-9172