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AJNR - American Journal of Neuroradiology

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American Journal of Neuroradiology 26:1008-1011, May 2005
© 2005 American Society of Neuroradiology

Case Report
SPINE

Resolution of an Aggressive Ideopathic Diskitis

Alice B. Smith^a, Arthur G. Kane^a,d, Anne H. Sholes^b and Judy H. Freeman^c

^a Department of Radiology, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI
^b Department of Neurosurgery, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI
^c Department of Pathology, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI
^d Uniform Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD

Address correspondence to Arthur G. Kane, MD, Jarrett-White Road, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI 96859

Summary: We report a case of thoracic spine diskitis of unknown cause that had aggressive and destructive features on MR images. Results of two biopsies were unremarkable. The process began after sneezing, also produced extensive paraspinous enhancement, and resolved without antibiotic therapy both clinically and radiologically after four months. A discussion of case similarities to Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) in the extremities render this possibly the first reported imaging evidence of RSD in the axial skeleton.