Histology Accurate in Diagnosis of Tuberculous Sapondylodiscitis

A new study aimed to assess the accuracy of histology compared with bacteriology in the diagnosis of tuberculous spondylodiscitis (TS), the most common form musculoskeletal tuberculosis.

In this single-center case series, 121 discovertebral biopsies of infective spondylodiscitis were analyzed for the diagnostic accuracy of histology determined by bacteriology as criterion standard.

Of the 121 biopsies, 55 (45.4%) were diagnosed as TS by histological and/or bacteriological findings, 17 (30.9%) were classified as definite TS by bacteriology, and the remaining 38 (69.1%) had positive histology and negative bacteriology. There were 2 false-negatives and 3 false-positives.

In regard to the diagnosis of TS, sensitivity was 88.2%, specificity was 93.4%, positive predictive value was 83.3%, negative predictive value was 95.5%, and accuracy of histology was 92%.

The authors concluded that histology is an accurate diagnostic tool in TS.

Reference

Romdhane E, Rammeh Soumaya, Riahi H, et al. The value of histology in the diagnosis of tuberculous spondylodiscitis. J Clin Rheumatol. 2020;26(2):63-66. DOI: 10.1097/RHU.0000000000000930.