Vertebral Osteomyelitis

Figure 1. Vertebral Osteomyelitis. A 63-year-old man, admitted to the hospital for an exacerbation of chronic lung disease, had blood cultures that were positive for Staphylococcus aureus. Imaging studies of the spine showed that he had vertebral osteomyelitis, diskitis between T8 and T9, and a paravertebral inflammatory mass. Panel A is an unenhanced computed tomogram of the spine at T8. The inferior end-plate of the vertebral body is eroded (arrow), with a large surrounding area of paraspinal soft-tissue density (arrowhead). Panel B is a sagittal T 2 -weighted magnetic resonance image of the thoracic spine. An increased signal is seen . . .