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Osteomyelitis

Case contributed by Andrew Dixon
Diagnosis almost certain

Presentation

8 month old boy with 10 day history of left wrist swelling.

Patient Data

Age: 8 months
Gender: Male

Note: This case has been tagged as "legacy" as it no longer meets image preparation and/or other case publication guidelines.

x-ray

Plain radiographs show lucency of the distal radial metaphysis and marked surrounding soft tissue swelling, highly suggestive of osteomyelitis.

Nuclear medicine

Bone scan images support the plain film diagnosis. There is distal forearm hyperemia on the blood flow and pool images and focal tracer uptake within the radial metaphysis on the delayed images.

mri

MRI reveals the additional presence of adjacent soft tissue collection and wrist joint synovitis.

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