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Fungal Infections of the Central Nervous System pp 393–404Cite as

Imaging Findings of Fungal Infections of Spine and Spinal Cord

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Abstract

Fungal infections of the spine are rare and most often infect susceptible individuals. Most common infective agents are Candida, Aspergillus, Cryptococcus, Coccidioides and Histoplasma. Infection reaches the spine through haematogenous route and direct spread from an adjacent infected organ or during surgical procedures. It leads to vertebral osteomyelitis, intervertebral disc infection resulting in reduced disc height, endplate erosions and epidural and paravertebral soft tissue masses. Imaging findings are non-specific but useful for discriminating infections from degenerative disease changes and neoplastic conditions. Imaging findings of various common fungal infections affecting the spine are reviewed along with some unusual and rare agents like Scedosporium prolificans. In addition, postoperative fungal infections and infection associated with contaminated prednisolone injection are also briefly reviewed.

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Abbreviations

18F-FDG-PET:

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography

CSF:

Cerebrospinal fluid

CT:

Computed tomography

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency virus

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

WI:

Weighted image

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroimaging and Intervention Radiology, NIMHANS, Bangalore, India

    Jitender Saini

  2. Department of Radiology, Saral Diagnostics Classic, Noida, India

    Mudit Gupta

  3. Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India

    Rakesh K. Gupta

  4. Department of Radiology and Imaging, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

    Rakesh K. Gupta

Authors
  1. Jitender Saini
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  2. Mudit Gupta
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  3. Rakesh K. Gupta
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, School of Medicine, Aydın, Turkey

    Mehmet Turgut

  2. Department of Pathology, Basavatarakam Indo-American Hospital & Research Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

    Sundaram Challa

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Avicenne Military Hospital, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Marrakech, Morocco

    Ali Akhaddar

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Saini, J., Gupta, M., Gupta, R.K. (2019). Imaging Findings of Fungal Infections of Spine and Spinal Cord. In: Turgut, M., Challa, S., Akhaddar, A. (eds) Fungal Infections of the Central Nervous System. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06088-6_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06088-6_31

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-06087-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-06088-6

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