Highlights
- •CRMO is a distinct disease entity, about one third of the patients have spinal disease.
- •Long-term morbidity and other disease associations are common.
- •Diagnosis often delayed, some mimickers are reviewed.
- •Imaging is crucial, especially WB-MRI.
Abstract
Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is a distinct disease entity of
unknown etiology primarily affecting children and adolescents. It is an autoinflammatory
process that typically affects multiple bones with a waxing and waning course. About
one third of the patients diagnosed with CRMO have spinal involvement which can lead
to long term morbidity. The clinical presentation and imaging features of CRMO involving
the spine are nonspecific and can mimic other disease processes like infection or
malignancy. Since imaging plays a very important role in the diagnosis and management
of CRMO, we intend to highlight various imaging patterns of spinal CRMO alongside
its clinical features and briefly discuss its imitators, management and outcomes.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 23, 2021
Accepted:
September 15,
2021
Received in revised form:
July 27,
2021
Received:
March 22,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc.
