[Spondylitis due to Citrobacter diversus. Case report and review of Citrobacter diversus infections]

Citrobacter diversus (C.d.) is an unusual human pathogen. Its pathogenic potency is small or nil, and in most cases it is isolated in combination with other organisms. Most isolates are of indeterminate clinical significance. Occasionally C.d. may cause opportunistic infections, especially in subjects with primary or secondary conditions of poor host defense, immunosuppressed patients or neonates. We report a case of C.d. vertebral osteomyelitis following C.d. pneumonia. The osteomyelitis was cured by surgery and chemotherapy. This case is interesting since it involves an otherwise healthy subject with no underlying disease. C.d. was isolated in blood during the episode of pneumonia and in bone four weeks later. No other case of Citrobacter diversus vertebral osteomyelitis has hitherto been described.