A 41-year-old Australian man with a history of gout presented with severe thoracic back pain and fevers, causing him to be bed-bound for a week. There was no infectious or traumatic precipitating event. This magnetic resonance image of the spine showed a lytic lesion on the T1 spinous process with inflammatory changes in the adjacent soft tissues and surrounded by a small collection of fluid. There was no spinal cord involvement.
The patient was treated for vertebral osteomyelitis and gout until a spinal aspirate showed monosodium urate crystals. He made a full recovery.
- Minnie Au1
- John Wood1
- Townsville Hospital, Townsville, QLD.
Correspondence: Minnie.Au@utas.edu.au
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