Skeletal Lesions Following Meningococcemia and Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

Abstract

• Partial destruction of the right humeral and right femoral head were discovered in a 30-month-old girl, two years after her recovery from meningococcal septicemia and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Additional findings were symmetrical epiphyseal-metaphyseal lesions of the lower femora and upper and lower tibiae. The combined skeletal lesions seem to be characteristic sequelae of infantile meningococcemia complicated by DIC. Since this condition is no longer uniformly fatal, the characteristic skeletal dystrophy will be encountered more frequently and should be recognized by radiologists, pediatricians, and orthopedists. The features shared by our patient and the seven previously published cases are presented. (Am J Dis Child 1983;137:279-281)