Unmasking the mimic: vertebral alveolar echinococcosis diagnosed by metagenomic next-generation sequencing.
Tassilo Kruis, Marion Wassermann, Barbara Graf, Katharina Lührig, Peter Menzel, Rolf Schwarzer, Johannes Ziegler, Caroline Isner
Infection · 2026-04
Abstract
A Siberian woman in her forties presented to a public hospital in northeastern Germany with chronic back pain and a paravertebral mass, initially misdiagnosed as spinal tuberculosis. Repeated biopsies and metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) ultimately confirmed vertebral alveolar echinococcosis. Haplotype analysis revealed a novel Asian-cluster variant, supporting the presumed origin of infection.
MeSH terms
- Humans
- Female
- High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
- Metagenomics
- Echinococcosis
- Middle Aged
- Tuberculosis, Spinal
- Germany
- Diagnosis, Differential