[A teenage girl with non-infectious osteomyelitis]

Osteomyelitis is usually caused by an infection. A non-infectious cause should be considered if antibiotic treatment is insufficiently effective and disease is recurrent, multifocal or migrating.

A 14-year-old girl, an active volleyball player, developed episodes of fever and pain in her right lower leg. MRI showed osteomyelitis in her right tibia. She received prolonged intravenous antibiotic treatment. Shortly after recovery, she developed osteomyelitis in her left lower leg. After exclusion of infection and malignancy, we diagnosed chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO). The patient was successfully treated with a NSAID and a bisphosphonate.

CRMO is an auto-inflammatory condition characterised by recurrent, non-infectious, multifocal or migrating osteomyelitis. Patients experience recurrent episodes of bone pain, sometimes accompanied by fever and slightly elevated infection parameters. The disease course usually is self-limiting, without residual damage. Symptomatic treatment with NSAIDs and bisphosphonates often leads to remission.