Diagnosis behind the mask: A rare case of infected Charcot's spine

Giedre Kučinskaite, MD; Theodor Lutz, MD; Sönke Frey, PhD, MD; Mark Wetterkamp, MD; Tobias L. Schulte, PhD, MD; Carsten Lukas, PhD, MD

Radiology Case Reports (Aug 2023)

Diagnosis behind the mask: A rare case of infected Charcot's spine

Giedre Kučinskaite, MD,
Theodor Lutz, MD,
Sönke Frey, PhD, MD,
Mark Wetterkamp, MD,
Tobias L. Schulte, PhD, MD,
Carsten Lukas, PhD, MD

Affiliations

Giedre Kučinskaite, MD: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, St. Josef Hospital, Ruhr University of Bochum, Gudrunstrasse 56, Bochum, 44791, Germany
Theodor Lutz, MD: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, St. Marien Hospital Hamm, Germany
Sönke Frey, PhD, MD: Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, St. Josef Hospital, Ruhr University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Mark Wetterkamp, MD: Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, St. Josef Hospital, Ruhr University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Tobias L. Schulte, PhD, MD: Department of Orthopedics, Emergency Surgery and Hand Surgery, Florence Nightingale Hospital, Dusseldorf, Germany; Corresponding author.
Carsten Lukas, PhD, MD: Institute of Neuroradiology, St. Josef Hospital, Ruhr University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany; Department of Neurology, St. Josef Hospital, Ruhr University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany; Corresponding author.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 18, no. 8
pp. 2800 – 2805

Abstract

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Charcot's spine is a very uncommon long-term complication of spinal cord injury. Infection of the spine is a common pathology, but infection of a Charcot's spine is rare and is challenging to diagnose, especially in differentiating between the Charcot defect and the osteomyelitis defect. Surgical reconstruction has to be extremely individualized. A 65-year-old man with a history of thoracic spinal cord injury with paraplegia 49 years ago was admitted to our hospital with high fever and aphasia. After a thorough diagnostic process, destructive Charcot's spine and secondary infection were diagnosed. This report additionally reviews the surgical management of secondary infected destructive lumbar Charcot's spine and follows the patient's recovery and postoperative quality of life.

Published in Radiology Case Reports

ISSN: 1930-0433 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Medicine (General): Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine
Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/radiology-case-reports

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Abstract

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