ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2018
Low virulence bacterial infections in cervical intervertebral discs: a prospective case series.
Article in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluating the Impact of Modic Changes on Operative Treatment in the Cervical and Lumbar Spine: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Evidence for infection in intervertebral disc degeneration: a systematic review.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2022Pooled it
- The bacteria-positive proportion in the disc tissue samples from surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019Pooled it
- Recommendations of the International Consensus Meeting (ICM) 2025 on Spinal Infections: Part A Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis.Global spine journal · 2026Article
- Wogonin Ameliorates the Oxidative Stress, Apoptosis, and Extracellular Matrix Degradation of Nucleus Pulposus Cells Mediated byInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Intervertebral disc puncture predisposes the disc to Cutibacterium acnes infection via hematogenous and contiguous routes: a rat model study.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Article
- Cutibacterium acnes in lumbar spine, from skin to deep tissue. A colonization study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- Engineering Intervertebral Disc Regeneration: Biomaterials, Cell Sources and Animal Models.Cell proliferation · 2025Review
- Neuroinflammation at the Neuroforamina and Spinal Cord in Patients with Painful Cervical Radiculopathy and Pain-Free Participants: An [Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Induction of cervical disc degeneration and discogenic pain by low concentration Propionibacterium acnes infection: an in vivo animal study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2024Article
- Efficacy of stepped care treatment for chronic discogenic low back pain patients with Modic I and II changes.Interventional pain medicine · 2023Article
- Association between periodontitis and disc structural failures in patients with cervical degenerative disorders.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Article
- WouldJournal of personalized medicine · 2023Article
- Cytokine Imbalance as a Biomarker of Intervertebral Disk Degeneration.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Different responses of cervical intervertebral disc caused by low and high virulence bacterial infection: a comparative study in rats.Bioengineered · 2022Article
- Frequency and characteristics of bacterial and viral low-grade infections of the intervertebral discs: a prospective, observational study.Journal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology · 2022Observational
- Chronic pain and infection: mechanisms, causes, conditions, treatments, and controversies.BMJ medicine · 2022Review
- Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Insights into Its Pathobiology and Molecular Mechanisms.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
- The Prevalence of Bacterial Infection in Patients Undergoing Elective ACDF for Degenerative Cervical Spine Conditions: A Prospective Cohort Study With Contaminant Control.Global spine journal · 2021Article
- A review of microscopy-based evidence for the association of Propionibacterium acnes biofilms in degenerative disc disease and other diseased human tissue.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019Review
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10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
STUDY
designA prospective cross-sectional case series study.
objectiveTo investigate the prevalence of low virulence disc infection and its associations with characteristics of patients or discs in the cervical spine.
backgroundLow virulence bacterial infections could be a possible cause of intervertebral disc degeneration and/or back pain. Controversies are continuing over whether these bacteria, predominantly Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), represent infection or contamination. However, the current studies mainly focus on the lumbar spine, with very limited data on the cervical spine.
methodsThirty-two patients (20 men and 12 women) who underwent anterior cervical fusion for degenerative cervical spondylosis or traumatic cervical cord injury were enrolled. Radiological assessments included X-ray, CT, and MRI of the cervical spine. Endplate Modic changes, intervertebral range of motion, and disc herniation type were evaluated. Disc and muscle tissues were collected under strict sterile conditions. Samples were enriched in tryptone soy broth and subcultured under anaerobic conditions, followed by identification of the resulting colonies by the PCR method.
resultsSixty-six intervertebral discs were excised from thirty-two patients. Positive disc cultures were noted in eight patients (25%) and in nine discs (13.6%). The muscle biopsy (control) cultures were negative in 28 patients and positive in 4 patients (12.5%); three of whom had a negative disc culture. Seven discs (10.6%) were positive for coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CNS) and two discs were positive for P. acnes (3.0%). A younger patient age and the extrusion or sequestration type of disc herniation, which represented a complete annulus fibrous failure, were associated with positive disc culture.
conclusionsOur data show that CNS is more prevalent than P. acnes in degenerative cervical discs. The infection route in cervical discs may be predominantly through an annulus fissure. Correlation between these infections and clinical symptoms is uncertain; therefore, their clinical significance needs to be investigated in the future. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.
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