OBJECTIVE Infectious spinal disease is regarded as an infection by a specific organism that affects the vertebral body, intervertebral disc and adjacent perivertebral soft tissue. Its incidence seems to be increasing as a result of larger proportion of the older patients with chronic debilitating disease, the rise of intravenous drug abuser, and the increase in spinal procedure and surgery. In ...

In the preantibiotic era, pyogenic thoracic vertebral osteomyelitis was often complicated by mediastinal abscess, empyema, or necrotising pneumonia which arose by contiguous invasion late in the disease and progressed to bacteraemia and death.' Since the advent of antibiotics, however, the disease more often presents insidiously and may simulate mediastinal tumour, or gastrointestinal, genitour...

Twenty-four pyogenic liver abscesses have been treated during a six-year period percutaneously. Percutaneous management included percutaneous drainage and fine needle aspiration under ultrasound or CT scan guidance. Percutaneous management was successful in 92% of cases, and no further treatment was required in 91% of these. One patient died, giving a mortality rate of 4.1%. There were no compl...

conclusion there are significant differences between vo by different microorganisms that help physician to start empirical medical treatment while waiting to definite diagnosis by blood culture, culture from paravertebral abscess, serology and bone biopsy. spinal osteomyelitis is an uncommon cause of back pain but it has potential to compromise nervous system and even death may occur if it is n...

In another paper the remarkable effect of pyogenic infections on the adrenal cortex is reviewed (1). The hypertrophy of the adrenal cortex found in chronic infections may reasonably be interpreted as due to an increased demand made upon the physiological function of that tissue. The characteristic lipoids in the cells of the cortex which are present even in complete fasting rapidly disappear in...