Predictive modeling for epidural abscess: what we can, can't, and should do about it

Reply to the Letter to the Editor: Does Operative Management of Epidural Abscesses Increase Healthcare Expenditures up to 1 Year After Treatment?

“…I believe Dr. Kitov and colleagues are conflating etiology with both abscess severity and clinical characteristics, which is not necessarily the case. Spontaneous epidural abscesses are prone to greater severity than iatrogenic abscesses because they tend to be associated with more virulent organisms and delayed presentation [1,3]. That said, it is the character of the abscess itself, and not the underlying etiology, that drives both the clinical features and risk to longterm function and survival.…”