SPECT/CT Use as an Indicator of Low-Grade Infection in the Spine: Report of Two Cases

Low back pain is one of the most common pathologies worldwide. When conservative treatment fails toyield good results, surgery is the recommended approach. Despite spinal fusion, some patientscontinue to experience persistent low back pain. This is where a series of studies come into play todetect the source of treatment failure. The use of bone scintigraphy with SPECT (single -photonemission computed tomography) in combination with computed tomography (CT) has greatly improvedthe anatomical localization of abnormalities found in SPECT. While pseudoarthrosis is a significantcause of spinal fusion failure, in recent years, it has been observed that certain low-virulence pathogensare also implicated in persistent low back pain. This is the focus of our s tudy, in which we identifiedtwo patients with persistent low back pain after surgery, both of whom tested positive for chronic low -grade infection using SPECT/CT. Level of evidence: IV