Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener granulomatosis) as a differential diagnosis of sternal osteomyelitis: the challenges in diagnosis

J Clin Rheumatol. 2013 Dec;19(8):446-8. doi: 10.1097/RHU.0000000000000036.

Abstract

Although granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) can affect a large number of organ systems and produce a broad spectrum of clinical symptoms, skeletal involvement is very rare, with the exception of facial bone involvement associated with destructive nasal and sinus inflammation. We describe here a 54-year-old man with sternal osteomyelitis and destructive arthritis around the sternoclavicular joint. Despite antibiotics and conventional immunosuppressive treatment, his symptoms deteriorated, and a new mass-like lung lesion was developed. A histopathologic analysis of the lung mass revealed chronic granulomatous inflammation with fibrinoid necrosis, and he was diagnosed with GPA. When a patient with a destructive inflammatory lesion has negative culture results and no response to conventional therapy, we propose that an aggressive approach is necessary for a pathologic diagnosis to exclude the possibility of GPA.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Cyclophosphamide / administration & dosage
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis / diagnosis*
  • Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / administration & dosage
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Osteomyelitis / diagnosis*
  • Radionuclide Imaging
  • Sternoclavicular Joint / diagnostic imaging
  • Sternoclavicular Joint / pathology
  • Sternum
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Substances

  • Immunosuppressive Agents
  • Cyclophosphamide