Medicine
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Observational Study
Is There an Association Between Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Neurological Signs in Patients With Vertebral Osteomyelitis?: A Retrospective Observational Study on 121 Patients.
Neurological complications can occur in up to 51% of vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) in surgical series. The aim of our study was to estimate the frequency of neurological signs in a nonselected population of patients with VO and to assess clinical and MRI changes associated with these complications. We reviewed medical charts of patients with VO from 2007 to 2014 in our University Hospital and their MRIs were analyzed by a radiologist blinded from clinical data. ⋯ Neither epidural abscesses, multifocal lesions, loss of disk height, nor nerve roots compression were associated with major neurological signs. Neurological signs occurred in 40% of our patients with one half being major signs. Cervical involvement, vertebral destruction, angular kyphosis, dural compression, effacement of subarachnoid space and compressive myelopathy on MRI were risk factors associated with neurological complications.