Vertebral osteomyelitis with a rare etiology diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration cytology.

Invasive fungal infections are rare in immunocompromised individuals, but are not uncommon in immunologically compromised patients. Bone involvement by these infections, though exceedingly rare, may occur due to direct extension of the infection from a neighboring organ or due to hematogenous dissemination in critically ill patients. Still rarer is the invasive aspergillosis involving either the vertebral body or the intervertebral disc with extension into the extradural space as an abscess. We report one such case of vertebral osteomyelitis due to Aspergillus diagnosed by FNAC in a well-controlled diabetic patient who presented with nonspecific symptoms and in whom a clinical and radiological diagnosis of Pott's spine was considered. The present case stresses the importance of early cytologic diagnosis of vertebral Aspergillus osteomyelitis, which in conjunction with appropriate timely medical and surgical treatment, offers good recovery without much sequelae or threat to life.