Unusual appearances of spinal tuberculosis

ABSTRACT

Nine cases of spinal tuberculosis [TB] with unusual features are reviewed to increase the awareness of neurosurgeons on the various aspects of spinal TB and its unusual forms. The disease affected a single vertebral body in 2 patients, the neural arch in 2 patients, three adjacent vertebrae with the intervening two disc spaces in 2 patients and multiple distant segments in 3 patients. An anterior decompression was performed for 5 patients while the lesion was biopsied only for 4 patients. All the patients made an excellent recovery after anti TB chemotherapy. The difficulties in the clinical distinction between spinal TB and metastatic tumour from an occult primary source is stressed and the value of tissue diagnosis is emphasized