Gonococcal osteomyelitis of the shoulder extended from gonococcal arthritis: diagnosis by a polymerase chain reaction assay

e d s w h t ( w t w o y fl o b onorrhea is the most common sexually transmitted isease that involves the genitourinary tract, rectum, and harynx. Gonococcal arthritis is the most common comlication of disseminated gonococcal infection, which onsists of a group of clinical syndromes including tenoynovitis, dermatitis, meningitis, myopericarditis, and linical sepsis associated with the isolation of Neisseria onorrhoeae.16 Unfortunately, the rate of obtaining postive blood or synovial fluid cultures is not high. Howver, it is recommended that antibiotic agents be used romptly in patients with septic arthritis, because a delay n treatment can rapidly lead to joint destruction, resultng in permanent joint disability. Furthermore, whereas on-gonococcal arthritis is frequently associated with steomyelitis, gonococcal osteomyelitis is rare. We reort a case of a young woman who had gonococcal rthritis with contiguous osteomyelitis diagnosed by olymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay.