MR Imaging of Spinal Infection
- 1 August 2004
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Georg Thieme Verlag KG in Seminars in Musculoskeletal Radiology
- Vol. 8 (3) , 215-229
- https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2004-835362
Abstract
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis and management of spinal infection, enjoying a high sensitivity and specificity. A thorough understanding of spinal anatomy and the physicochemical pathological processes associated with infection is a desirable prerequisite allowing accurate interpretation of the disease process. Apart from confirmation of the disease, MR imaging is also best suited to excluding multifocal spinal involvement and the detection/exclusion of complications. It plays an essential role in the decision-making process concerning conservative versus surgical treatment and is also the best imaging method to monitor the effect of treatment. The MR features of infection confidently exclude tumor, degeneration, and so forth as the underlying process; differentiate pyogenic from granulomatous infections in most cases; and can suggest the rarer specific infective organisms.Keywords
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