[Value of different surgical techniques for sampling biopsy material in the diagnosis of tuberculous spondylitis].

Surgery biopsy was used to examine 133 patients admitted to hospital for suspected tuberculous spondylitis. The surgical biopsy diagnostic techniques involved biopsy of peripheral lymph nodes, paracentesis of abscesses, puncture and trephine biopsies of vertebral bodies, and open diagnostic vertebrotomy. Biopsy studies using surgical techniques verified the diagnoses of tuberculous spondylitis, vertebral tumors, and nonspecific vertebral osteomyelitis in 115, 8, and 10 patients, respectively.

[Thermovision diagnosis of tuberculosis of the spine and large joints].

A comprehensive study was carried out in 95 patients with different forms and stages of osteoarticular tuberculosis by using the thermographic diagnostic technique. The patients' age was 17 to 76 years. The study was undertaken to define the capacities of thermography for differential diagnosis of osteoarticular tuberculosis from noninflammatory disease of the skeleton and to evaluate the efficiency of treatment in phthisiorthopedic patients.

[Tuberculous spondylitis syndrome].

The authors conducted a comprehensive study of 482 patients with suspected tuberculous spondylitis. The commonest diagnostic signs of some spinal diseases, similar to the clinical ones, were defined on clinical, X-ray, laboratory, and thermographic findings. This enabled a differentially diagnostic syndrome including 58 signs to be developed.