Beroukhim G, et al. - In cases of suspected osteomyelitis, researchers identified clinical factors and radiographic characteristics associated with positive culture results from the bone biopsy. A total of 997 CT-guided bone biopsies have been reviewed. For this investigation, the images and medical records of 29 cases of suspected osteomyelitis were reviewed in order to determine whether any of the following factors affected culture outcomes: age, sex, history of diabetes, collection of fluid aspirate at the time of biopsy, recent antibiotic therapy, elevated WBC count, and mean attenuation. Data reported that the positive culture rate of suspected osteomyelitis from image-guided core biopsy was low. No significant difference was found in age, sex, history of diabetes, the collection of fluid aspirate at the time of biopsy, recent antibiotic therapy, or elevated WBC count between positive culture and negative culture cases. Findings suggested an association of lower CT attenuation values with a significantly higher rate of a positive culture. An attenuation value of 150 HU can serve as a threshold above which biopsy is expected to be less useful in obtaining specific data on microbial culture.