Isolated Septic Arthritis: Meningococcal Infection

Septic Arthritis due to Neisseria meningitidis in the Absence of Meningitis

“…They were young with a median age of 19 and the knee was the most commonly infected joint. 2,[7][8][9][10][11] Those cases easily can be misdiagnosed as disseminated gonococcus prior to final culture results. Neisseria gonorrhea is the most common cause of septic arthritis in sexually active young adults, with four times preponderance in females.…”

“…8 It is difficult to separate the two Neisseria species on microscopy as both are morphologically indistinguishable. 11 Differentiating the two species is important, especially in regards to Table 1. Multilingual review of literature resulting in seven cases of females with isolated joint infection.…”

Primary meningococcal oligoarthritis of the knee—case report and review of the literature

“…Septic arthritis caused by N. meningitides in the absence of meningococcal syndrome (PMA), however, is much less well known. A review of the literature from 1980 to 2011 found 49 cases of PMA; only 22 cases, however, involved isolated joints and of these nearly 50% were children under 4 years [5,8,9]. Of the 13 remaining adult cases, 11 men and two women [4,9] were identified.…”

“…A review of the literature from 1980 to 2011 found 49 cases of PMA; only 22 cases, however, involved isolated joints and of these nearly 50% were children under 4 years [5,8,9]. Of the 13 remaining adult cases, 11 men and two women [4,9] were identified. Three of the adult males were immunocompromised, leaving only 10 reported cases of PMA in healthy adults [2,4,5,9].…”

“…Of the 13 remaining adult cases, 11 men and two women [4,9] were identified. Three of the adult males were immunocompromised, leaving only 10 reported cases of PMA in healthy adults [2,4,5,9].…”