We reviewed 26 patients with progressive spinal kyphosis due to anterior fusion between the vertebrae. No patient had back pain or any neurological defect. The kyphosis appeared to be progressive until the fusion had included all of the disc. Progression was faster during the adolescent growth-spurt. Kyphosis increased with the number of discs involved, from one to six, and the extent of fusion within each disc. In six of the nine cases treated by spinal bracing, progression of the kyphosis was arrested.

In the literature 21 children have been reported with haematogenous osteomyelitis involving only the epiphyses of long bones; in 20 the epiphyses of the knee were involved and the radiographs showed a lytic lesion. Most patients gave a history of pain, limp or refusal to walk for weeks or months without general illness. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate and white cell count were of little diagnostic value, but a bone scan was usually positive. All the patients were cured by antibiotics alone or in combination with curettage.