[Spasmodic left waist pain in a six years old child--cat scratch disease]

Cat scratch disease is caused by Bartonella henselae, a bacterium transmitted to humans from cats through a scratch or by fleas. In 90% of cases, the clinical presentation is that of classical cat scratch disease where an adjacent lymph node is infected. Atypical manifestations include prolonged fever, liver and spleen abscesses, infective endocarditis, central nervous system involvement etc. We present a 6 years old girl who suffered from L2 vertebral osteomyelitis and epidural abscess, initially presenting as colic left waist pain, with no back pain or high fevers. During the process of diagnosis, she recovered without surgical intervention or antibiotic treatment. A review of the literature indicates that among the wide spectrum of clinical manifestations of cat scratch disease, skeletal involvement is rare. However, in cases of osteomyelitis, vertebrae are a common site as well as formation of a contiguous phlegmon. Although no studies have investigated the efficacy of different treatment regimens, all patients presented were treated with antimicrobial combinations and recovery rates were high. In view of the patient presented here, it is questioned whether the high recovery rates are a result of efficient antibiotic treatment or due to a benign natural course of the disease.