Acute calcific discitis in adults
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Updated: Oct 1, 2026

Diagnosis and Surgical Treatment of Human Brucellar Spondylodiscitis
Published on: May 23, 2021
Jamal Bazzi1, John R Dimar, Steven D Glassman
1Kenton D. Leatherman Spine Center, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Abstract:
Acute calcific discitis in the pediatric population is a well-described entity and may rarely involve the adult population. Acute calcific discitis does occur in adults, presenting clinically with the abrupt onset of severe back pain with a classic radiographic calcification of the disc similar to that of a discogram; it resolves with nonsurgical symptomatic treatment. To our knowledge, no cases of "idiopathic" adult calcific discitis have been reported in the orthopedic literature. We report 2 adult patients with symptomatic thoracic disc calcifications that closely resemble those observed in children and briefly discuss the relevant clinical and radiographic features, along with a review of the literature.
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