Objective: To analyze aspects related to the diagnostic difficulty in patients with bacterial spondylodiscitis. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study with retrospective data collected in the period from March 2004 to January 2014.Twenty-one patients diagnosed with bacterial spondylodiscitis were analyzed. Results: Women were the most affected, as well as older individuals. Pain in the affected region was the initial symptom in 52% of patients, and 45.5% of the patients had low back pain, and those with dorsal discitis had back pain as the main complaint; the patients with thoracolumbar discitis had pain in that region, and only one patient had sacroiliac discitis. The average time between onset of symptoms and treatment was five months. The lumbar segment was the most affected with 11 cases (52%), followed by thoracolumbar in 24%, dorsal in 19% of cases and a case in the sacroiliac segment. Only seven patients had fever. Pain in the affected level was coincidentally the most common symptom. Conclusions: Early diagnosis of bacterial spondylodiscitis remains a challenge due to the nonspecific signs and symptoms reported by the patient and the wide variability of laboratory results and imaging. The basis for early diagnosis remains the clinical suspicion at the time of initial treatment.

Objectives: To compare the measurement of the Cobb angle on printed radiographs and on scanned radiographs viewed through the software "PixViewer". Methods: Preoperative radiographs of 23 patients were evaluated on printed films and through the software "PixViewer". The same evaluator, a spine surgeon, chose the proximal and distal limiting vertebrae of the main curve on printed radiographs, without identification of patients, and measured the Cobb angle based on these parameters. The same parameters and measurements were applied to scanned radiographs. The measurements were compared, as well as the choice of limiting vertebrae. Results: The average variation of the Cobb angle between methods was 1.48 ± 1.73°. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.99, demonstrating excellent reproducibility. Conclusion: The Cobb method can be used to evaluate scoliosis through the "PixViewer" tool with the same reliability as the classic method on printed radiographs.

Foram estudados, do ponto de vista mecânico, a rigidez e os pontos críticos de um implante para fixação interna da coluna lombossacra. Aplicou-se o implante sobre um modelo de madeira simulando o segmento lombossacro da coluna. Realizamos sete ensaios de flexo-compressão, sete de rigidez axial, sete de rigidez radial e um ensaio destrutivo. Os resultados demonstraram que o implante foi eficiente e seguro para uso em seres humanos.

The clinical, radiological and operative findings in 10 consecutive patients with cervical spine trauma presenting with locked facets (bilaterally in nine patients) are reported. The treatment was cervical traction until reduction of the locked facets was achieved, followed by anterior surgical decompression and ostheosynthesis. Intervertebral disc herniation was present in nine of the patients, and ruptured calcified posterior longitudinal ligament was present in the remaining patient. Four patients improved after treatment (none of these had clinically complete tetraplegia preoperatively), and three patients died. Associated soft tissue injuries producing spinal cord compression after reduction of cervical locked facets were verified in all of the patients of this series, suggesting that systematic surgical exploration should be done in this category of patients.