Pyogenic Andersson Lesion in a Patient With Ankylosing Spondylitis

Abstract

Although the exact etiology of the Andersson lesion (AL) remains unclear, it is known to occur mostly in patients with long-standing ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Among the various theories for the etiology of AL, repetitive trauma and inflammatory causes are the most common. The histopathological appearance of the AL in this report was consistent with that of chronic inflammation without any infection. Pyogenic ALs in the context of AS are extremely rare; to the best of our knowledge, positive cultures of this lesion in bone biopsies have never been reported. Herein, we report a rare case of a pyogenic AL with a positive culture and discuss a relevant review of the literature.