Table 2. Clinical and radiological presentation of vertebral osteomyelitis.
| ≥ 75 years (n = 85) | < 75 years (n = 266) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fever | 49 (57.6) | 133 (50.2) | 0.283 |
| Back pain | 80 (94.1) | 257 (96.6) | 0.34 |
| Neurological symptoms | |||
| Radiculopathy | 6 (7.1) | 33 (12.4) | 0.243 |
| Spinal cord compression | 3 (3.5) | 16 (6) | 0.582 |
| PVO localization | |||
| Multiple | 12 (14.1) | 26 (9.8) | 0.357 |
| Cervical | 9 (10.6) | 43 (16.2) | 0.278 |
| Thoracic | 28 (32.9) | 69 (25.6) | 0.984 |
| Lumbar | 59 (69.4) | 187 (70.3) | 0.086 |
| Sacral | 6 (7.1) | 39 (14.7) | 0.101 |
| Epidural Inflammation | 20 (24.7) | 91 (35.8) | 0.567 |
| Infective endocarditis | 25 (36.8) | 26 (13.8) | <0.001 |
Numbers in brackets are the percentages of the sub-group populations. Bolded p-values are considered to be significant as they are lower than 0.05. PVO: pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis. Localization of PVO describes the spinal level affected; the sum of the values exceeds the number of total cases because of the presence of PVO in multiple localizations.