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tuberculous spondylitis; Pott's disease
Infectious arthritis of the spine due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Etiology:
- more common in patients with immnodeficiency
Epidemiology:
- more common in areas endemic for tuberculosis
Clinical manifestations:
- consistent with systemic manifestations of tuberuclosis
- fever, night sweats
Laboratory:
- generally vertebral biopsy required for diagnosis
- tuberculin skin testing
- may be positive with prior exposure to tuberculosis
- may be falsely negative in patients with immunodeficiency
Radiology:
- chest X-ray may be normal
- x-ray of spine show evidence of vertebral destruction
- computed tomography of spine may show paraspinal mass
Management:
1) antituberculous therapy is generally curative
2) surgery may be required for spine instability due to destruction of disc spaces & vertebral bodies
Related
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)
General
tuberculous arthritis
spondylitis
References
- Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP) 11, 16, 18.
American College of Physicians, Philadelphia 1998, 2012, 2018
- Jain AK.
Tuberculosis of the spine: a fresh look at an old disease.
J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2010 Jul;92(7):905-13.
PMID: 20595106
- Garg RK, Somvanshi DS.
Spinal tuberculosis: a review.
J Spinal Cord Med. 2011;34(5):440-54. Review.
PMID: 22118251 Free PMC Article