Percutaneous inoculated rabbit model of intervertebral disc space infection: Magnetic resonance imaging features with pathological correlation

MRI is a reliable tool for non-invasive diagnosis of vertebral infection in a rabbit model and can be useful to compare the efficiency of different antimicrobial therapy in animal series before human administration. Gadolinium-enhanced MR sequences allow an earlier and more precise determination of the presence and extent of infection. Modifications of vertebral signal are the more reliable criterion for the evaluation of disc spaces infection.