ArticleEuropean journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology2025
Infectious spondylodiscitis: Epidemiology, diagnosis, microbiological findings, clinical features and outcomes in a 14-year retrospective study.
Article in European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Decompressive Laminectomy for Neurological Complications of Spondylodiscitis: A Case Series of 15 Patients.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Article
- Hematogenous vertebral osteomyelitis caused by vaginal microbiota: metagenomic resolution of a polymicrobial anaerobic case.Infection · 2026Article
- When infection becomes architecture: structural predictors of surgical management in spondylodiscitis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- The Incidence, Pathogen Spectrum, and Resistance Profile of Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis: A Nationwide Retrospective Evaluation of G-DRG Data.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2026Observational
- Infectious Spondylodiscitis of Bacterial Causes in Adults: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnostic and Treatment Challenges.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Staphylococcus aureus Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis in a Patient With Rheumatoid Arthritis Receiving Rituximab.Cureus · 2026Article
- Predictors of microbiological yield in image-guided biopsy for spondylodiscitis: impact of prior antibiotic exposure and biopsy timing.Infection · 2026Article
- From Culture to Sequencing: Evolving Strategies for the Diagnosis of Pediatric Spondylodiscitis.Orthopaedic surgery · 2026Review
- Clinical characteristics, microbiological landscape, and severity-stratified management of pyogenic spondylitis: a retrospective cohort study.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo describe the epidemiology, diagnosis, microbiological findings, clinical features, and outcomes of infectious spondylodiscitis (IS).
methodsRetrospective analysis of 98 IS patients (2010-2023 - Trieste Hospital). Clinical, radiological, and microbiological data analysed, multivariate logistic regression assessed risk factors for poor outcomes.
resultsThe incidence of IS was 3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year. Pyogenic infections accounted for 54% of cases, tuberculosis for 10%, while 35% remained of unknown etiology. Back pain (79%) and fever (72%) were the most common symptoms. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common pathogen, with 34 cases, representing 64% of pyogenic spondylodiscitis. Blood cultures were positive in 47% of pyogenic cases, 25% of all cases. PET/CT showed higher diagnostic utility (83%) than labeled leukocyte scintigraphy (54%). The lumbar spine was the most affected region (63%), followed by thoracic (25%) and cervical (12%). Neurosurgical biopsy showed a 33.3% positivity rate, while CT-guided biopsy yielded 22%. Cervical (OR 4.76) and thoracic (OR 3.89) involvement were associated with worse outcomes. Major complications included radicular nerve damage (51%), epidural/paravertebral abscesses (45%), endocarditis (14%), and a need for surgical intervention in 8%, with persistent neurological sequelae in 3%. Infection-related mortality rate was 6%.
conclusionS. aureus remains the leading pathogen in IS. Blood cultures play a key role, yielding positive in half of pyogenic cases. PET/CT surpassed leukocyte scintigraphy and improved MRI diagnostic accuracy. Lumbar involvement correlates with better outcomes, and open biopsy provides a higher diagnostic yield than percutaneous TC-guided biopsy. Empirical therapy is required in one-third of cases.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.