ArticleTomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.)2022
The Diagnostic Performance of Multi-Detector Computed Tomography (MDCT) in Depiction of Acute Spondylodiscitis in an Emergency Department.
Article in Tomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
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Authors and funding
25 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe diagnosis of acute spondylodiscitis can be very difficult because clinical onset symptoms are highly variable. The reference examination is MRI, but very often the first diagnostic investigation performed is CT, given its high availability in the acute setting. CT allows rapid evaluation of other alternative diagnoses (e.g., fractures), but scarce literature is available to evaluate the accuracy of CT, and in particular of multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT), in the diagnosis of suspected spondylodiscitis. The aim of our study was to establish MDCT accuracy and how this diagnostic method could help doctors in the depiction of acute spondylodiscitis in an emergency situation by comparing the diagnostic performance of MDCT with MRI, which is the gold standard.
methodsWe searched our radiological archive for all MRI examinations of patients who had been studied for a suspicion of acute spondylodiscitis in the period between January 2017 and January 2021 (
resultsMDCT allowed identification of the presence of acute spondylodiscitis in 13 of 25 patients. Specificity and positive predictive value were 100% for MDCT, while sensitivity and negative predictive value were 68% and 50%, respectively, achieving an overall accuracy of 76%. In addition, MDCT allowed the identification of paravertebral abscesses (92%), fairly pathognomonic lesions of spondylodiscitis pathology.
conclusionsThe MDCT allows identification of the presence of acute spondylodiscitis in the Emergency Department (ED) with a satisfactory accuracy. In the case of a positive CT examination, this allows therapy to be started immediately and reduces complications. However, we suggest performing an elective MRI examination in negative cases in which pathological findings are hard to diagnose with CT alone.
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