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We report a case of Mycobacterium bovis BCG vertebral osteomyelitis in a 79-year-old man 2.5 years after intravesical BCG therapy for bladder cancer. The recovered isolate resembled M. tuberculosis biochemically, but resistance to pyrazinamide (PZA) rendered that diagnosis suspect. High-pressure liquid chromatographic studies confirmed the diagnosis of M. bovis BCG infection. The patient was originally started on a four-drug antituberculous regimen of isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, and PZA. When susceptibility studies were reported, the regimen was changed to isoniazid and rifampin for 12 months. Subsequently, the patient was transferred to a skilled nursing facility for 3 months, where he underwent intensive physical therapy. Although extravesical adverse reactions are rare, clinicians and clinical microbiologists need to be aware of the possibility of disseminated infection by M. bovis BCG in the appropriate setting of clinical history, physical examination, and laboratory investigation.

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Introduction

Tuberculosis is the commonest of the infections world wide and it can affect almost any part of the body, most commonly the thorax. The spine is affected in 50 % of the cases of skeletal tuberculosis. A tuberculous infection of the spine causes a bony destruction and collapse of the vertebrae, with a gibbus deformity, skip lesions, an intervertebral disc involvement, an epidural abscess, a paravertebral abscess and oedema in the soft tissue planes. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the most valuable investigation in the patients with spinal tuberculosis, as it can clearly demonstrate all of the above findings.

Methods

In this study, the MRI scans of 70 known cases of tuberculosis of the spine, which were done in the Department of Radiodiagnosis, R.D.Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, India, were retrospectively analyzed, to determine the pattern of occurrence of various pathological lesions.

Results

It was found in this study, that Pott’s spine was most commonly observed in the 21-50 years age group, with a male predominance. The dorsal and the lumbar vertebrae are commonly involved and multiple vertebrae were often affected, the L3 vertebra being the commonest. An intervertebral disc involvement and pre and paravertebral collections were commonly seen, with an epidural collection occurring in more than 75 % of the cases. Cord oedema was noted in 10% of the cases.

Conclusion

The MRI scan is highly sensitive in the detection of various pathological processes of Pott’s spine and the patterns of occurrence of these findings were analyzed in this study. Since the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis are dependent on various epidemiologically sensitive parameters, this study can provide a benchmark, against which the results of studies which will be done in the future can be compared.

Purpose

We analysed delay in diagnosis (DID) and disease severity in patients with vertebral tuberculosis (TB) in India.

Methods

We interviewed 228 patients with vertebral TB and reviewed their diagnostic magnetic resonance images (MRIs). We examined patient characteristics at the time of presentation and associations between socioeconomic background, access to care, DID and radiographic disease severity at the time of diagnosis.

Results

The most common presenting symptom was localised back pain (84%), followed by fever (40%) and pain elsewhere (28%). The median DID was five months [interquartile range (IQR) 3–9]. In multivariate logistic regression, Muslim and older patients had a higher risk of extreme (more than ten months) DID [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.91; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20–7.08 and 2.33; 95% CI 1.23–4.94, respectively]. One hundred and two patients (64%) had vertebral abscesses. Median local kyphotic deformity was 11.7° (IQR 0–18.5°). Fifty-four (34%) patients had radiologically severe disease at the time of diagnosis. Older patients and those with higher education were less likely to have severe disease at the time of diagnosis (aOR 0.32; 95% CI 0.13–0.76 and 0.20 95% CI 0.06–0.62, respectively). Patients who experienced extreme DID were more likely to have severe disease (aOR 2.67; 95% CI 1.05–6.99).

Conclusions

Most patients in this cohort experienced long delays in diagnosis, and such delay was significantly associated with the presence of severe disease. Clinicians in TB-endemic areas must consider vertebral TB early and obtain imaging in patients who complain of persistent back pain. Improved diagnostic criteria are needed to identify patients at higher risk of disease.

Background

Tuberculous spondylitis (Pott's disease) is an ancient human disease. Because it is rare in high-income, tuberculosis (TB) low incidence countries, misdiagnoses occur as sufficient clinical experience is lacking.

Case presentation

We describe a fatal case of a patient with spinal TB, who was mistakenly irradiated for suspected metastatic lung cancer of the spine in the presence of a solitary pulmonary nodule of the left upper lobe. Subsequently, the patient progressed to central nervous system TB, and finally, disseminated TB before the accurate diagnosis was established. Isolation and antimycobacterial chemotherapy were initiated after an in-hospital course of approximately three months including numerous health care related contacts and procedures.

Conclusion

The rapid diagnosis of spinal TB demands a high index of suspicion and expertise regarding the appropriate diagnostic procedures. Due to the devastating consequences of a missed diagnosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis should be considered early in every case of spondylitis, intraspinal or paravertebral abscess. The presence of certain alarm signals like a prolonged history of progressive back pain, constitutional symptoms or pulmonary nodules on a chest radiograph, particularly in the upper lobes, may guide the clinical suspicion.

Lymphomas are malignant neoplasms of the lymphoid lineage. They are broadly classified as either Hodgkin disease or as non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Burkitt's lymphoma, a variety of NHL, is significantly most common in sub-Saharan Africa, where it accounts for approximately one half of childhood cancers. Lymphoblastic lymphoma is less common. A case of paravertebral high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (lymphoblastic lymphoma) “masquerading” as Pott's disease in a 13-year-old child is reported. The present report was informed by the unusual presentation of this case and the intent of increasing the index of diagnostic suspicion. A brief appraisal is provided of the clinical parameters, management strategies and challenges. AT was a 13-year boy that presented on account of a slowly evolving and progressively increasing hunch on the back and inability to walk over 4 and 8 months duration, respectively. There was subsequent inability to control defecation and urination. There was no history of cough. He and his twin brother lived with their paternal grandfather who had chronic cough with associated weight loss. The grandfather died shortly before the child's admission. The child had no BCG immunization. The essential findings on examination were in keeping with lower motor neurons (LMN) paralysis of the lower limbs. The upper limbs appeared normal. There was loss of cutaneous sensation from the umbilicus (T10) downward. There was a firm, (rather tense), non-tender non-pulsatile, smooth swelling over the mid-third of the back (T6-L1) the mass had no differential warmth. It measures about 20×12 cm. Chest radiograph showed no active focal lung lesion, but the thoraco-lumbar spine showed a vertebral planner at L1 and a wedged collapse of T11-T12 vertebrae. There was sclerosis of the end plates of all the vertebral bodies with associated reduction in the bone density. He had an excision biopsy on the 90th day on admission, following which his clinical state rapidly deteriorated. He died within 48 h post surgery. This report aims at raising the local index of clinical suspicion by highlighting the reality of rarities, even in the presence of inadequate diagnostic facilities!

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Methods: The study included 43 patients with Pott's paraplegia, managed conservatively. The diagnosis of Pott's spine was based on clinical, magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography or ultrasound guided aspiration biopsy. All patients were examined clinically, and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) to lower limbs and tibial somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) were recorded. Outcome at six months was defined as good or poor. For evaluating predictors of outcome, 15 clinical, investigative, and evoked potential variables were analysed, using multiple logistic regression analysis.

Results: The age range of the patients was 16–70 years, and 22 were female. Mild spasticity with hyperreflexia only was seen in 13 patients. In the remaining, weakness was severe in eight, and moderate and mild in 11 patients each. Twenty patients had loss of joint position sensation. MEP and SEP were abnormal in 19 and 18 patients, respectively. On multiple regression analysis, the best model predicting six month outcome included power, paraplegia score, SEP, and MEP.

Conclusion: Patients with Pott's paraplegia are likely to recover completely by six months if they have mild weakness, lower paraplegia score and normal SEPs and MEPs.

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Pott's puffy tumor is an infrequent entity characterized by a subperiosteal abscess associated with frontal bone osteomyelitis. It has become rare due to the development of antibiotics and is usually seen as a complication of frontal sinusitis. Although Pott's puffy tumor is more commonly described in children, it should also be included in the differential diagnosis of swelling on the forehead in adults. Once the diagnosis is suspected, appropriate imaging should be performed to evaluate the possible complications. The treatment of Pott's puffy tumor combines medical and surgical approaches in order to prevent further complications. The goal of surgery is to drain the sinus and to excise the infected bone if necessary. The endoscopic endonasal approach is a safe and effective alternative to the external approach. This report describes the case of a 25-year-old man with Pott's puffy tumor resulting from frontal sinusitis.

A high degree of suspicion and appropriate imaging studies are required for the early diagnosis of Pott's spine. We describe a 4-year-old boy with Pott's disease of the lumbar spine with bilateral psoas abscesses. The child responded to conservative treatment with antituberculous treatment and ultrasonographically guided percutaneous drainage of the abscesses.