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Objectives: The objective is to determine the frequency and the semiological and evolutionary profiles of infectious spondylodiscitis in hospital practice in Kara. Patients and methods: This was a cross-sectional study of a case series of patients with infectious spondylodiscitis, who were admitted to the rheumatology department of Kara University Hospital in North Togo. Results: Among the 3972 examined patients, 86 (33 males and 53 females) patients (2.16%) had infectious spondylodiscitis. The average age of these patients at the onset of the disease was 47.20 years. The average duration of the disease was 11.41 months. Tuberculosis was suspected in 77 of 86 patients (89.53%). The infectious spondylodiscitis most often affected the lumbar (51.04%) and dorsal (21.87%) segments and was associated with a pulmonary location in 31 patients (36.04%). In addition to underdevelopment and poor hygiene (72 cases), alcoholism (15 cases) and human immunodeficiency virus infection (10 cases) were the main risk factors identified. The progress with the medical treatment was favorable in 65 patients (75.58%) and 16 patients were lost to follow-up. Conclusion: The frequency of infectious spondylodiscitis reflects the underdevelopment and poor hygiene levels in Black Africa. Its etiology is most commonly associated with tuberculosis and remains a concern despite the epidemiological transition of the different diseases.

Infectious spondylodiscitis in the elderly is a diagnostic and therapeutic emergency. They are mainly a functional and sometimes vital prognosis issue, with long-term chronic disabling sequelae and significant social costs. Study aim: To describe the epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of infectious spondylodiscitis in the elderly in a rheumatological setting in Togo. Patients and methods: This was a multicenter, crosssectional study conducted on the records of patients aged at least 65 years, suffering from infectious spondylodiscitis and hospitalized in four rheumatology units from their respective opening dates till December 31, 2020. Data collection lasted three months (December 1, 2020 to February 29, 2021). The diagnosis of infectious spondylodiscitis was radioclinical and laboratory-based. Results: 83 (49 women, 34 men) of the 1281 patients (6.48%) examined had infectious spondylodiscitis. The mean age at consultation was 70.59 ± 5.09 years, and the mean duration of the clinical course was 12 months. Spondylodiscitis was of tuberculous etiology (89.20%). It was most often found in the lumbar (56.62%) and dorsal (21.69%) segments. The location was multifocal in 12.05% of cases. It was associated with pulmonary involvement in 22.64% of cases. A neurological complication was identified in 48.19%. The main risk factors identified were promiscuity (48.82%), chronic alcoholism (18.07%), HIV infection (8.43%), diabetes (6.03%) and sickle cell disease (6.03%). The clinical course under medical treatment was favorable in 57 patients (68.68%).

Objectives: To determine the epidemiological, clinical, and bacteriological characteristics of septic arthritis of the hip (SAH) among patients hospitalized in the departments of Rheumatology in Lomé. Patients and Methods: This was a multicentre, descriptive study, conducted over a 16-year period, from January 2004 to December 2020 on patients' records at the three departments of Rheumatology in Lomé. We included in this study only patients with complete laboratory and radiological data. Patients who underwent hip replacement surgery and those with arthritis of the hip due to all inflammatory arthropathies were excluded. The diagnosis of SAH was based on clinical, radiological and bacteriological features. In the absence of bacteriological confirmation, the presumptive etiological diagnosis was based on epidemiological data, contacting with a person with tuberculosis, the presence of high-grade fever, the mode of presentation of the symptoms, the patient's general appearance, and the result of the tuberculin skin test. The data was collected using Epi info 7.0 and statistical analysis was performed using STATA/IC 11.0. Results: Out of 3776 patients hospitalized in the three departments over the study period, 705 (18.67%) were diagnosed with septic arthritis of which 70 (9.92%) patients with SAH. The 70 patients with SAH were 44 (62.86%) females, and 26 (37.14%) males, with a sex ratio of 1.7 F/M. The mean age of the patients was 42.43 ± 19.37 years (range: 5 years and 80 years) and the mean duration of symptoms was 6.57 ± 8.85 months (range: 2 days and 48 months). The pain was inflammatory in nature in 46 (65.71%) and mechanical in nature in 24 (34.29%) patients. The onset of the disease was progressive in 50 (71.43%) patients and sudden in 20 (28.57%) patients. The locations of the pain were: groin only 25 (35.71%), greater trochanter only 15 (21.43%), groin and lower back 14 (20%), and groin and greater tro-How to cite this paper: