[Tuberculosis of the spine in children. Personal experience]

Minerva Pediatr. 1994 Jun;46(6):295-301.
[Article in Italian]

Abstract

We are currently witnessing a worldwide return of tuberculosis. An extremely rare form is tuberculosis of the spine which is reported above all in extra-European studies. The authors report a case of Pott's disease in a child aged 3 years and 3 months who was referred to their attention due to the appearance of left inguinal swelling, fever and anemia. Diagnostic tests (ETG, CT, MR) showed an abscess involving the L5-S1 intersomatic space, the intervertebral disc and osteolytic lesions of S1, with impairment of the left psoas muscle and diffusion as far as the inguinal region. Chemotherapy was commenced using isoniazid, ethambutol, rifampicin, and streptomycin and lasted 24 months associated with drainage of the ileopsoas abscess. Conservative orthopedic treatment lasting for one year initially took the form of decubitus in bed with hyperdistension of the vertebral column, followed by the creation of a plaster-cast cot on the back and lastly a glass-reinforced resin orthopedic jacket. The follow-up of 2 years and 10 months showed recovery with reconstruction of the vertebral elements and the preservation of intervertebral space.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Abscess / microbiology
  • Abscess / surgery
  • Child, Preschool
  • Humans
  • Isoniazid / administration & dosage
  • Isoniazid / therapeutic use
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / isolation & purification
  • Rifampin / administration & dosage
  • Rifampin / therapeutic use
  • Spinal Cord / diagnostic imaging
  • Spinal Cord / microbiology
  • Streptomycin / administration & dosage
  • Streptomycin / therapeutic use
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Tuberculosis, Spinal / diagnosis*
  • Tuberculosis, Spinal / drug therapy
  • Tuberculosis, Spinal / microbiology

Substances

  • Isoniazid
  • Rifampin
  • Streptomycin