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Diagnosis and Surgical Treatment of Human Brucellar Spondylodiscitis
Published on: May 23, 2021
Disseminated tuberculosis mimicking ankylosing spondylitis
Valérie Huyge1, Serge Goldman, Muhammad S Soyfoo
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
Case Reports in Rheumatology
|September 1, 2012
Summary
Ankylosing spondylitis can mimic other conditions. Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) imaging helped diagnose disseminated tuberculosis in a patient with suspected ankylosing spondylitis.
Area of Science:
- Rheumatology
- Infectious Diseases
- Nuclear Medicine
Background:
- Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease primarily affecting the axial skeleton.
- Persistent elevated inflammatory markers warrant thorough investigation for alternative diagnoses.
Observation:
- A patient presented with clinical signs suggestive of ankylosing spondylitis and persistently high inflammatory markers.
- (18)F-FDG-PET/CT imaging revealed widespread hypermetabolic lesions in the axial skeleton, lymph nodes, and lungs.
Findings:
- Histological examination of a pulmonary lesion confirmed Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.
- The imaging findings were initially suggestive of disseminated tuberculosis or lymphoma.
Implications:
- This case underscores the necessity of considering differential diagnoses, such as tuberculosis, in patients with ankylosing spondylitis clinical suspicion and elevated inflammatory markers.
- It highlights the crucial role of (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in identifying diverse pathologies beyond the primary clinical suspicion.
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