Actinomycotic osteomyelitis of the skull and atlas with late dissemination. A case of transient neurosurgical syndrome.

Actinomycosis of the skull and/or the vertebral column is extremely rare in previously healthy children and its diagnosis is difficult. A case is reported here involving the occipital bone and the atlas. The disease had started 4 years before diagnosis and presented as a neurosurgical affection in a 13-year-old-girl. The disease spread towards the retropharyngeal space and probably disseminated to the liver and the lung. Actinomyces israeli grew from cultures. Antibiotic treatment was successful.