• D H R Kempen, M van Dijk, A I M Hoepelman, F C Oner, and J J Verlaan.
• Department of Orthopaedics, St. Antonius Hospital, P.O. Box 2500, 3430 EM, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands, D.H.R.Kempen@olvg.nl.
• Eur Spine J. 2015 May 1; 24 Suppl 4: S502-7.

PurposeTo present a unique case of multilevel vertebral osteomyelitis after Lemierre syndrome.MethodsA previously healthy 27-year-old man presented in the Emergency Department in septic shock because of Lemierre syndrome for which he was subsequently treated with intravenous benzylpenicillin for 2 months. Two and a half months later, the patient was readmitted with severe back pain without neurological deficits or fever. Imaging revealed an extensive vertebral osteomyelitis of the complete thoracic, lumbar and sacral spine.ResultsAlthough the blood cultures obtained at the initial admission for Lemierre syndrome revealed Fusobacterium species and Streptococcus milleri, the cultures from the spinal biopsies remained negative. Histology of the spinal biopsies showed a purulent sclerosing osteomyelitis. The patient was successfully treated with intravenous piperacillin and tazobactam. Despite persisting back pain, no recurrence of infection was seen at 3 years of follow-up.ConclusionLemierre syndrome and an extensive thoracolumbosacral vertebral osteomyelitis are rare but serious infections. Clinicians must maintain a high index of suspicion for infectious metastases leading to vertebral osteomyelitis when a patient presents with back pain after an episode of life-threatening septicaemia caused by Lemierre syndrome.

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