Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24165346›Full record

ArticleAnnals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England2013

Admission inflammatory markers and isolation of a causative organism in patients with spontaneous spinal infection.

P A G Torrie, A Leonidou, I J Harding, G Wynne Jones, M J Hutchinson, I W Nelson

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Article in Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Imaging assessment of spine infection.Skeletal radiology · 2024
    Review
  2. Thoracic spine infection caused byWorld journal of clinical cases · 2024
    Article
  3. Spinal infections in the north-east of Scotland: a retrospective analysis.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2023
    Review
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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

P A G TorrieNorth Bristol NHS Trust, Flat 12, Muller House, Ashley Down Road, Bristol BS7 9DA, UK. alextorrie99@hotmail.com.
A Leonidou
I J Harding
G Wynne Jones
M J Hutchinson
I W Nelson

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe purpose of this study was to investigate the significance of the inflammatory markers on admission in the isolation of a causative pathogen in patients with spinal infection. Spinal infection is treated frequently at spinal units and can encompass a broad range of clinical entities. Its diagnosis is often delayed because of the difficulty of identifying the responsible pathogen.

methodsPatients with spinal infection treated in our institution over a period of eight years were identified and their notes studied retrospectively. Admission C-reactive protein (CRP), white cell count (WCC) as well as co-morbidities and mode of pathogen identification were recorded. Overall, 96 patients were included in the study.

resultsThe CRP levels on admission were correlated significantly with the overall potential for isolation of a pathogen (p<0.0001) and positive biopsy cultures (p=0.0016). Admission WCC levels were associated significantly with the overall potential for isolation of a pathogen (p=0.0003) and positive biopsy cultures (p=0.0023). Both CRP and WCC levels were significantly negatively correlated with the duration of the preceding symptoms (p=0.0003 and p<0.0001 respectively). Delay in presentation was significantly negatively correlated with organism isolation (p=0.0001). Multivariate analyses identified the delay in presentation as the strongest independent variable for organism isolation (p=0.014) in cases of spontaneous spinal infection when compared with the admission CRP level (p=0.031) and WCC (p=0.056).

conclusionsIn spontaneous spinal infection, delay in presentation is the strongest independent variable for organism isolation. High inflammatory marker levels on admission are a useful prognostic marker for the overall potential of isolating a causative organism either by blood cultures or by biopsy in patients with negative blood cultures. Furthermore, the admission inflammatory marker levels allow for treating surgeons to counsel their patients of the likelihood of achieving a positive microbiological yield from biopsy.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overBiomarkersC-Reactive ProteinFemaleGram-Positive BacteriaGram-Positive Bacterial InfectionsHumansLeukocyte CountMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesSpinal DiseasesTime-to-TreatmentBiomarkersC-Reactive Protein

Identifiers

PMID24165346
PMCPMC4311540

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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 OpenQuestion graph.