Osteomyelitis of Cervical Vertebrae (and Quadriparesis) Secondary to Urinary Tract Infection

Abstract

M e t a s t a t i c os teomyel i t i s of the ve r t eb ra l co lumn seconda ry to infect ion of the u r i n a r y t r a c t has been recorded in the l i t e r a tu re since 1925 in a t o t a l of 19 cases. Bac ter io logic proof of the same o rgan i sm in bo th the ur ine and the b o n y lesion has been d e m o n s t r a t e d in on ly 5 cases. The p resen t r epo r t descr ibes an add i t i ona l case wi th bacter io logic proof. The first men t i on of the re la t ion be tween ve r t eb ra l os teomyel i t i s and infect ion of the u r i n a r y t r a c t a p p a r e n t l y was m a d e b y G o l d s c h m i d t s in 1925 ( repor ted b y De FeoS). H e felt , however , t h a t the infect ion of the bone p receded the u r i n a r y infect ion. A causa l r e l a t ionsh ip be tween u r i n a r y infect ion and sp ina l os t eomye l i t i s was first g iven ser ious cons ide ra t ion b y Carson 3 in 19:31, who recorded 4 cases, in ~ of which he ob t a ined cu l tu res of Staphylococcus aureus f rom b o t h the ur ine and osseous infect ions. The cases r ecorded in the l i t e r a tu re since Car son ' s r e p o r t are l i s ted in Tab le 1.