Benefits of Polymerase Chain Reaction Combined With Culture for the Diagnosis of Bone and Joint Infections: A Prospective Test Performance Study.

Background: The microbiological diagnosis of bone and joint infections (BJI) currently relies on cultures, and the relevance of molecular methods is still debated. The aim of this study was to determine whether polymerase chain reaction (PCR) could improve the etiological diagnosis of BJI.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted during a 4-year period at Lariboisiere University Hospital (Paris, France), including patients with suspicion of infectious spondylodiscitis, septic arthritis, prosthetic joint infections, and respective noninfected groups.

Atypical vertebral Paget's disease.

A 40-year-old Mauritanian man consulted for back pain. A computed tomography of the spine showed patchy sclerosis of the fifth and seventh thoracic vertebral bodies with normal neural arch of T5 and sclerosis and hypertrophy of the neural arch of T7, as well as diffuse sclerosis of the T11 vertebral body with a normal neural arch. At MRI, low signal-intensity on T1-weighted images and high signal-intensity on T2-weighted images involved the whole T5 and T7 vertebrae and the vertebral body of T11.

Bony sequestrum: a radiologic review.

According to a pathological definition, a bony sequestrum is defined as a piece of devitalized bone that has been separated from the surrounding bone during the process of necrosis. However, the radiological definition of a sequestrum is different and refers to an image of calcification visible within a lucent lesion, completely separated from the surrounding bone, without referring to the vascular status and histological nature of the calcified tissue. The term "button sequestrum" has been used in calvarial lesions.