Bone scintigraphy in children with cat scratch disease.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric infectious diseases
• Skeletal imaging
• Bartonella henselae infections

Background:

• Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a common zoonotic infection.
• Bone involvement in CSD is not well-characterized.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the incidence and characteristics of bone involvement in pediatric patients diagnosed with CSD.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study of pediatric patients with CSD and positive Bartonella henselae serology.
• Inclusion criteria: bone scintigraphy (BS) performed.
• Data collected on patient demographics, clinical signs, and BS findings.

Main Results:

• 25% (6/24) of patients had positive bone scintigraphy findings.
• All positive cases showed axial involvement; 3 also had appendicular lesions.
• Only 2 patients reported bone pain; 3 showed improvement or normalization on follow-up BS after antibiotic treatment.

Conclusions:

• Bone involvement in CSD is infrequent and may not present with typical symptoms.
• CSD should be considered in children with fever of unknown origin and multifocal bone lesions on BS.