CT of osteomyelitis of the spine.

Computed tomography (CT) were performed in 17 adults with osteomyelitis of the spine. The dominant features were paravertebral soft-tissue swelling, abscess formation, and bone erosion. In two patients there were no findings indicative of osteomyelitis on conventional radiographs, but CT revealed paravertebral abscesses and bone lysis, helping to establish the diagnosis of osteomyelitis. CT was found helpful in the evaluation of the patients suspected of spinal osteomyelitis, chiefly because of its ability to detect early erosion of spongy vertebral bone, disk involvement, paravertebral soft-tissue swelling or abscess, and extension of the pathology into the spinal canal. Furthermore, CT facilitated closed-needle biopsy, helping to establish the pathologic diagnosis.