We report a case of spondylodiscitis caused by multiresistant Serratia marcescens in a cirrhotic patient who had several Serratia bacteremias after the placement of a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) device. We concluded that an endovascular stent that can not be removed makes management of recurrent bacteremia difficult. Furthermore, back pain due to bacteremia is indicativ...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET/CT scan) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosing spondylodiscitis and its complications, such as epidural and paraspinal abscesses. METHODS From January 2006 to August 2013 patients with a clinical suspicion of spondylodisc...

UNLABELLED We retrospectively reviewed 10 patients with spinal brucellosis of the thoracic and lumbar spine who were treated successfully with a combination of surgery and antibiotics. All patients had back pain; six patients had radiculopathy and one patient had paraparesis. Patients with spondylodiscitis without epidural abscesses (n = 3) had transpedicle discectomy and drainage. Epidural abs...

Spondylodiscitis is a rare disease which is generally seen after long-term epidural catheterization. However, spondylidiscitis developing after diagnostic lumbar puncture is very rare. Early diagnosis has a crucial role in the management of the disease and inclines the morbidity rates. However, the diagnosis is often delayed due to the rarity and insidious onset of the disease usually presentin...

Endocarditis has been shown to be a common cause of vertebral osteomyelitis . This combination is potentially fatal and needs to be diagnosed early with an echocardiogram. Suspicion is the key with a complete history taking and physical examination. . In this article we review the literature for the diagnosis and management of spondylodiscitis in relation with endocarditis. We illustrate this r...

Spondylodiscitis due to Candida is a rare complication from hematogenic dissemination of infection caused by this fungus. We present an atypical case of spondylodiscitis caused by this germ that occurred after chest contusion and progressed with necrotizing fasciitis of the anterior region of the chest and osteomyelitis of the sternum. Through contiguity, it also affected the upper thoracic spi...

PURPOSE Spondylodiscitis is a rare infectious entity that requires multimodal diagnostic procedures. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of 18F-FDG PET on suspected spondylodiscitis based on published literature. PATIENTS AND METHODS We searched the PubMed and EMBASE for pertinent studies up to July 2013. We implemented a patient-based meta-analysis of diagnostic data for FDG PET (the ind...

There are numerous imaging tests for diagnosing musculoskeletal infection. Radiographs are routinely performed, because even when not diagnostic, they provide an anatomic overview of the region of interest that could influence subsequent procedure selection and interpretation. Magnetic resonance imaging is sensitive and provides superb anatomic detail. Bone scintigraphy accurately diagnoses ost...

Epidural abscess in infancy is very rare and has non-specific features, requiring very careful attention and early diagnosis. We present a case of a 3-month-old girl in which the diagnosis of spontaneous cervical epidural abscess developed after an initial episode of acute enterocolitis and was subsequently identified at a later visit to the emergency department for right-upper extremity hypoto...

This is a retrospective study of 15 patients treated for spondylodiscitis with implanted metal cages. The purpose of this study is to investigate the outcomes of patients treated with permanently placed metal hardware in vertebral body reconstruction for spondylodiscitis. The use of metal implants in the face of infection has classically been discouraged in orthopedic literature because of the ...