Korean J Med.  2014 Apr;86(4):515-518.

A Case of Vertebral Osteomyelitis and Spinal Epidural Abscess Caused by Haemophilus aphrophilus

• Kim YK
• Kim TJ
• Jung DM
• Kim SY
• Lee JA
• Lee SS
• Koh SH

Abstract

Haemophilus aphrophilus is an aerobic, gram-negative oropharyngeal bacterium, commonly isolated from cases of HACEK endocarditis. In addition, H. aphrophilus has also been shown to cause invasive bone and joint infections. Although multiple cases of H. aphrophilus endocarditis have been described, no cases of invasive bone and joint infections caused by H. aphrophilus have been reported in Korea. Here we report the case of a 69-year old woman with a diagnosis of vertebral osteomyelitis and spinal epidural abscess with compressive myelopathy caused by H. aphrophilus, in which there was no objective evidence of infective endocarditis. She was successfully treated with intravenous administration of cefotaxime and drainage of the epidural abscess by laminectomy of the T3-7 vertebrae.

Keyword

Haemophilus infection; Spondylitis; Epidural abscess; Spinal

MeSH Terms

Administration, Intravenous
Aged
Aggregatibacter aphrophilus*
Cefotaxime
Diagnosis
Drainage
Endocarditis
Epidural Abscess*
Female
Haemophilus Infections
Haemophilus*
Humans
Joints
Korea
Laminectomy
Osteomyelitis*
Spinal Cord Compression
Spine
Spondylitis
Cefotaxime