Published in:
01-03-2006 | Case Report
Mucormycosis spondylodiscitis after lumbar disc puncture
Authors:
Fei Chen, Guohua Lü, Yijun Kang, Zeming Ma, Chang Lu, Bin Wang, Jin Li, Jun Liu, Haisheng Li
Published in:
European Spine Journal
|
Issue 3/2006
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Abstract
Vertebral osteomyelitis due to mucormycosis is a rare but fulminant and fatal disease. Only one case has been reported in literature, with postmortem diagnosis. The present paper reports a female case of mucormycosis spondylodiscitis and vertebral osteomyelitis after lumbar disc puncture and radio frequency nucleoplasty. She subsequently underwent two surgical debridements, continuous local irrigation and drainage, together with local and systemic Amphotericin B treatments. The infection was controlled 4 months after the second debridement; however, there was no improvement in the neurological function at the most recent follow-up, 16 months after the surgery. The experience of this patient, though a single case, supports early recognition, surgical debridement, systemic and local antifungal treatment, closed irrigation and drainage as the keys to successful treatment.