Fig. 1

Pre- and post-treatment images of a 38 years old male heroin addict in Group 1. a Lateral X-ray view of the spine with pre-treatment kyphosis angle of 8.7°. b Sagittal section of contrast MRI shows disc destruction and end-plate erosion, which indicating pyogenic spondylodiscitis at L3/4. c Lateral X-ray view after the patient received antibiotics treatment for 42 days with post-treatment kyphosis angle of 13.3°. The patient’s total hospital stay was 47 days, and X-ray revealed progressive kyphosis after the antibiotics treatment