Staphylococcal vertebral osteomyelitis: case report

A 65-year old male Saudi patient presented with rapidly progressive quadriparesis. Lower cervical myelopathy was associated with radiological features of bone destruction, inflammatory disease of the spine and a paravertebral mass. Although tuberculosis and brucellosis are more commonly responsible for this clinical picture in our practice, Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from tissue recovered at surgery. He has been followed up for 12 months and has made an almost complete recovery after surgical decompression of spinal cord and a 2-month course of intravenous flucloxacillin. This case underscores the need for tissue diagnosis in patients presenting with inflammatory paravertebral swellings even in areas endemic for tuberculosis and brucellosis.