Gonococcal osteomyelitis in a pediatric patient with disseminated gonococcal infection: Implications for antimicrobial management
William Liakos,
Benjamin Schaffler,
Sujatha Rajan,
Stefan H.F. Hagmann
Affiliations
William Liakos
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, 500 Hofstra Blvd, Hempstead, New York, 11549, United States; Corresponding author.
Benjamin Schaffler
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, 500 Hofstra Blvd, Hempstead, New York, 11549, United States
Sujatha Rajan
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, 500 Hofstra Blvd, Hempstead, New York, 11549, United States; Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Northwell Health, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 269-01 76thAve, Queens, New York, 11040, United States
Stefan H.F. Hagmann
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, 500 Hofstra Blvd, Hempstead, New York, 11549, United States; Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Northwell Health, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 269-01 76thAve, Queens, New York, 11040, United States
We report a case of a female teenager with gonococcal septic arthritis of the right shoulder that also caused osteomyelitis of the humeral head. Infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a frequently diagnosed sexually transmitted infection in the sexually active teenage population and disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI) is the most common systemic manifestation of acute gonorrhea. DGI commonly involves acute arthritis, tenosynovitis and dermatitis with less common complications of endocarditis, hepatitis and meningitis. In contrast, osteomyelitis has only rarely been reported as a result of gonococcal infection. Clinicians need to be aware of this unusual manifestation of DGI as a prolonged duration of antimicrobial treatment may be needed to assure complete resolution of this infection.
