Abstract
Background. The diagnosis of early pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis is essential for prompt determination of treatment strategy and prevention of suppurative-destructive complications, although the nonspecifi c clinical manifestation obstructs timely disease detection. Aim. To analyse the clinical accuracy of various radiological imaging methods for early detection and control over vertebral osteomyelitis course Materials and methods. A retrospective study of standardized clinical data of patients (N = 54) who underwent treatment at the Neurosurgery Department of the MМCC WR between 2010 and 2020 was carried out. Patients were observed for 12–36 months. Study fi ndings and discussion. Our study revealed that during radiological imaging, infl ammatory changes in the vertebrae specifi c to osteomyelitis were not found in any case, which signifi cantly delays the diagnosis. The study analysed and grouped radiological signs of the infl ammatory process spread in the vertebrae in case of spondylodiscitis by CT and MR stages. Spondylodiscitis was diagnosed by CT of the spine in the late third stage only in 29.0 % of patients. Nonspecifi c destructive changes of vertebrae were detected in 51.6% of persons, which required additional MRI examination to establish the diagnosis. In 19.4% of those examined in the presence of the fi rst MR stage, no specifi c CT signs of osteomyelitis were found. MRI scan of the spine is the main specifi c (93 %), accurate (94 %) and sensitive (97 %) method for early detection of pyogenic osteomyelitis. Although according to the world literature, MRI is not sensitive enough to assess the dynamics of the infl ammatory process in the spine, the progressive increase in signal intensity of vertebral cortex on T1-weighted images within aff ected vertebrae correlates well with infl ammation resolving and C-reactive protein (CRP) level normalization. We described this radiological sign as a «vertebral rim» phenomenon (VRP). In our study, a reliable correlation was found between CRP level and the «vertebral rim» phenomenon on MRI. Conclusions. For early detection of pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis, MRI examination is the main specifi c and sensitive method. We suggest combining the CRP level and «vertebral rim» sign in practice as dynamics of spondylodiscitis markers and justifi cation of antibacterial therapy strategy.