Pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis of the elderly: Characteristics and outcomes.

The incidence of pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis (PVO) has increased over the past two decades. One possible cause of this increase is the aging of the population, which results in more comorbidities in high income countries.To better characterize the clinical presentation and outcome of PVO in the elderly.We conducted a post-hoc analysis of a previously published trial that studied treatment duration in PVO and compared the presentation and outcomes according to age.Our analysis included 351 patients among whom 85 (24%) were 75-years-old or more.There were no significant differences in the socio-demographics of the patients. Neoplasia and chronic inflammatory diseases were more common in the older group: 34% vs. 19% (p = 0.021) and 9% versus 1% (p = 0.004), respectively. There were no significant differences in clinical and radiological presentations between the groups in terms of back pain (337/351, 97%), fever (182/351, 52%), PVO localization, neurological signs and epidural abscess. Associated infective endocarditis (IE) was more frequent in the older group (37% vs. 14%, p