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Imaging of Hematogeneous Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis

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Imaging of Spinal Infection

Part of the book series: Medical Radiology ((Med Radiol Diagn Imaging))

Abstract

Pyogenic spondylodiscitis (PSD) is an infection of the intervertebral disk and adjacent vertebrae, which may also involve the paravertebral soft tissues. The incidence of PSD is increasing because of the growing number of elderly people and immunocompromised patients. Hematogeneous spread is by far the commonest route of spinal infection, due to the rich arterial supply of the vertebral body. PSD warrants early diagnosis and prompt treatment to prevent morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis is often challenging and requires a high index of clinical suspicion, blood and tissue cultures, appropriate imaging, and/or imaging-guided biopsy to enable an early diagnosis. This chapter aims to provide an overview of PSD, particularly its pathophysiology and imaging features. The roles of different imaging modalities such as radiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and nuclear scintigraphy are discussed, with a focus on MRI as the imaging modality of choice.

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Abbreviations

CT:

Computed tomography

FS:

Fat-suppressed

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

STIR:

Short-tau inversion recovery

T1-W:

T1-weighted

T2-W:

T2-weighted

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore, Republic of Singapore

    Sumer N. Shikhare & Wilfred C. G. Peh

Authors
  1. Sumer N. Shikhare
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  2. Wilfred C. G. Peh
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Correspondence to Sumer N. Shikhare .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Mohamed Kassab Orthopedic Institute, Tunis, Tunisia

    Mohamed Fethi Ladeb

  2. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    Wilfred C.G. Peh

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Shikhare, S.N., Peh, W.C.G. (2021). Imaging of Hematogeneous Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis. In: Ladeb, M.F., Peh, W.C. (eds) Imaging of Spinal Infection. Medical Radiology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70459-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70459-9_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-70458-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-70459-9

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