Cat-scratch disease in a child with unique magnetic resonance imaging findings.

OBJECTIVE

To report a patient with cat-scratch disease and the associated radiological findings.

PATIENT: A previously health 10-year-old boy presenting with fever and joint pain.

RESULTS

The presence of multiple abnormal foci in the bone marrow were noted by magnetic resonance imaging. There was no correlation with either radionuclide or conventional radiographic imaging findings. The patient's condition was diagnosed as cat-scratch disease by the demonstration of elevated antibody titers to the causative organism, Bartonella (formerly Rochalimaea) henselae.

CONCLUSION

Magnetic resonance imaging may be more sensitive to the early bone marrow changes that can occur with cat-scratch disease than either radionuclide bone scan or computed tomography.