1. The results of treatment of 117 tuberculous and fourteen other types of infection of the spine in adults by anterior fusion and chemotherapy have been reviewed.

2. It is suggested that anterior fusion is justified because: a) it permits isolation of the organism, and hence the determination of drug sensitivities and appropriate chemotherapy; b) removal of the diseased tissue and the stabilisation of the affected segment by iliac bone grafts can be effected, leading to rapid healing by bony fusion with little further collapse; c) rehabilitation of the patient is hastened; and d) the incidence of reactivation is probably diminished.

1. Pyogenic infection of the intervertebral disc in fifteen patients is described.

2. The importance of certain radiological signs in establishing the diagnosis is discussed.

3. Delayed diagnosis is believed to be responsible for the high incidence of paraplegia in this condition.

4. The place of operation in the management of this lesion is considered.

1. The case is described of a twenty-nine-year-old man with back pain due to an extensive vascular malformation replacing the major part of a vertebral body.

2. Treatment was by transthoracic ligation of the segmental vessels, with irradiation and spinal fusion later.

3. The importance of demonstrating the origin of the thoraco-lumbar supply to the anterior spinal artery is emphasised.