Tuberculous osteomyelitis of the scapula

Abstract

Tuberculous osteomyelitis is an uncommon disease entity. We report two cases of tuberculous infection of the scapula, one involving the acromion and one involving the body of the scapula. Tuberculosis is still an important differential diagnosis in unusual or chronic bone conditions. Rèsumè Nous rapportons deux cas d'infection tuberculeuse de l'omoplate, l'un atteignant l'acromion, l'autre atteignant le corps de l'omoplate. La tuberculose est encore un diagnostic différentiel important des maladies rares ou chroniques des os.

Scapular bone destruction: do not forget to think of tuberculosis in endemic areas

“…Joint involvement (tubercular arthritis) is the second most common followed by long bone involvement 14. TB involving flat bones is rarely found 15. TB involving bones of the shoulder joint is very rare and constitutes less than 1% of all osteoarticular TB cases and only a fraction of it involves the scapula 16.…”

“…Finding of cold abscess strongly suggests TB 18. Only 18 cases of scapular TB have been reported until now in the literature 15 16 19–31. Among them, three cases of scapular TB mention involvement of inferior angle of scapula 19–21.…”

Rare site for tubercular osteomyelitis with HIV infection

“…Very few cases of tubercular osteomyelitis of scapula have been reported till date and all of these were associated with other forms of tubercular osteomyelitis. [1][2][3] though the incidence of reactivation TB is more in immunocompromised individuals as compared to the immunocompetent population, scapular osteomyelitis still remains a rare subset of bony tubercular lesion. [4] The diagnosis of tuberculous scapular osteomyelitis requires a high degree of suspicion for accurate and timely diagnosis.…”

Isolated tubercular osteomyelitis of acromion: A case report and review of literature

“…2 To our knowledge, this case is only the third case of acromion involvement in the available literature. 3,4 With the unconventional radiographic site and presentation of the case, it is important to have a high suspicion of tuberculosis at such rare site especially when associated Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is at a rise.…”

“…Lafond 8 Scapula NA NA NA NA Martini 3 Acromion NA NA NA NA Shannon 9 Scapula 4/M ATT Pain, swelling Multifocal Mohan et al 2 Body of scapula 23/F Drainage and ATT Pain, Swelling Isolated Gusati et al 10 Spine of scapula NA Surgery and ATT Pain Isolated Vohra et al 11 Body of scapula NA NA NA Isolated Kam et al 4 Acromion 33/M Surgery and ATT Pain, Discharging sinus, 3 cm Circular bony defect…”