Ziegelbein Joel, El-Khoury Georges Y
University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52240-1009, USA.
Iowa Orthop J. 2011;31:219-24.
Infectious spondylodiscitis is an uncommon disease with increasing incidence that typically presents with abnormalities in two adjacent vertebral bodies and the intervening disk. We describe two cases that initially presented with imaging abnormalities in only a single vertebral body. Both patients had a history of lumbar back pain and elevated inflammatory markers, but the lack of classical spondylodiscitis imaging findings led to diagnostic delay and confusion. It is likely that the incidence of atypical presentations of spondylodiscitis will increase as the disease incidence increases and imaging is performed at an earlier stage. It is important to recognize the disease early because early diagnosis is the key to preventing serious complications like epidural abscess and spinal cord compression.
感染性脊椎间盘炎是一种发病率不断上升的罕见疾病，通常表现为两个相邻椎体及其间椎间盘的异常。我们描述了两例最初仅在单个椎体出现影像学异常的病例。两名患者均有腰痛病史且炎症指标升高，但缺乏典型的脊椎间盘炎影像学表现导致诊断延迟和混淆。随着该疾病发病率的增加以及早期进行影像学检查，脊椎间盘炎非典型表现的发生率可能会上升。早期识别该疾病很重要，因为早期诊断是预防硬膜外脓肿和脊髓压迫等严重并发症的关键。
