Stiff painful spine in an 11-year-old girl with SAPHO syndrome
Compression of the cervical spinal cord developed six months after the first signs of a stiff and painful spine in an 11-year-old girl. The clinical course, the association with other skeletal localization, particularly the sacroiliac joint and the roof of the acetabulum and the pathology findings of nonspecific inflammation led to the diagnosis of chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis that can be included in a SAPHO syndrome (synovitis-acne-pustulosis- hyperostosis-osteitis). We report the specific findings in our case and review the literature to define the nosology framework of this rather uncommon condition. To our knowledge, this is the first report of spinal cord injury in a child related to SAPHO syndrome.