Discitis, intervertebral disc-space infection, and vertebral
osteomyelitis form a spectrum of disorders with a probably common bacterial
etiology. We studied forty-one children who had symptomatic narrowing of
the disc space associated with fever and an elevated erythrocyte
sedimentation rate and found that the diagnosis of infection in the spine
was usually delayed. Technetium 99m polyphosphate bone-scanning proved to
be an accurate, rapid, and safe method of establishing an early diagnosis
of infection. A positive culture of blood or biopsy material was found in
34 per cent of all the patients (half of the patients for whom cultures
were obtained). The clinical and roentgenographic picture that develops is
determined both by the virulence and extent of infection and by the
resistance and regenerative capacity of the host. Discitis in children is a
vertebral osteomyelitis with disc involvement.