Scapular Caffey’s disease: A masquerading swelling in an infant, a case report and review of literature

Abstract

Caffey’s disease was characterized by a triad of symptoms, irritability, soft tissue swelling, and underlying cortical bone thickening. It mostly occurs before the first 5 months of life in infancy. The knowledge of this pathology was essential as it masquerades as wide range diseases including acute osteomyelitis, bone tumors, trauma, battered baby syndrome (child abuse), hypervitaminosis a, scurvy, infantile malignant osteopetrosis, neonatal tuberculosis, congenital syphilis, pseudoparalyis of infancy which was more common and require specific management including extensive surgery. Classically, infantile cortical hyperostosis disease occurs in the early part of the first year of life. Infantile cortical hyperostosis was characterized by a clinical triad (fever, soft-tissue swelling, hyperirritability) and a clinching radiographic picture of underlying cortical hyperostosis (thickening or bony expansion). We reported a case of scapular swelling in a 2 -month-old infant where a retrospective diagnosis of caffey’s disease was made. We proposed a high clinical suspicion for early diagnosis of Caffey’s disease and hence appropriate management.