Introduction:

Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO), also called chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis, is an autoinflammatory disease characterized by bone involvement, recurrent flare-ups, and the lack of microbiological isolation. It is a diagnosis of exclusion, and the fundamental basis of treatment is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The objective of the study is to describe our experience as a result of three girls diagnosed with CRMO, highlighting the clinical presentation, the findings in the complementary tests, the treatment, and the evolution of the disease.

Patients and methods:

Retrospective chart review of children with CRMO in the last 5 years, being followed-up in a pediatric rheumatology clinic in a tertiary center.

Results:

The cases are presented of 3 patients diagnosed with CRMO, all of them young girls, with a mean age of 11 years, who consulted due to pain and functional impotence. It was in single location in two cases, and the other with several sources of pain, at cervical and lumbar level, associated with weakness of the upper and lower limbs. Two of the cases received antibiotic treatment. One girl responded to treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs and another required combining corticosteroids. The remaining case, in addition to anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids, required intravenous pamidronate.

Conclusions:

With this study, and despite the small sample size, the aim was to highlight the importance of this, in many cases unknown and underdiagnosed, pathology, and to stress the importance of establishing a diagnostic and therapeutic protocol for the correct approach to this disease.

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