ABSTRACT
Background: Tuberculous disease of spine (spinal TB) is under-recognized in tuberculous (TB) meningitis.The objective of the study was to evaluate the frequency, clinical and neuroimaging changes, andoutcome in the patients with spinal TB. Methods: All the patients with spinal TB admitted in the twolargest tertiary hospitals in Kuala Lumpur from 2009 to 2017 were recruited, the clinical features weredocumented, the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine was performed. Clinical outcome wasassessed with Modified Rankin scale (MRS). Results: Twenty two patients were recruited. This wasout of 70 TB meningitis patients (31.4%) seen over the same period. Eighteen (81.8%) patients hadconcomitant TB meningitis. The clinical features consisted of systemic symptoms with fever (63.6%),meningitis symptoms with altered sensorium (45.5%), myelopathy with paraparesis (36.4%). Thefindings on spinal MRI were discitis (36.4%), spinal meningeal enhancement (31.8%), spinal cordcompression (31.8%), psoas abscess (27.3%), osteomyelitis (22.7%), and cord oedema (22.7%). Allexcept two patients (90.9%) had involvement in psoas muscle, bone or leptomeningeal enhancement,features that can be used to differentiate from myelopathy that affect the parenchyma only, such asdemyelination. Unusual manifestations were syringomyelia and paradoxical manifestations seen in 3patients each. The outcome were overall poor, with 68% having MRS 3 or more.Conclusion: Spinal TB is common in TB meningitis. The outcome is overall poor. A heightenedawareness is crucial to enable early diagnosis and treatment.