Isolated Tuberculosis of the Cervical Vertebrae
Department
Internal Medicine
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Cureus
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious disease that primarily affects the lungs, but extrapulmonary affection can occur with lymphatic or hematogenous spread. Skeletal affection commonly involves the spine, but cervical vertebral affection is rare. We report a 23-year-old female patient who presented to the hospital with diffuse limb weakness and neck pain as the only complaints. MRI of the cervical spine revealed a peripherally enhancing lesion arising from the posterior aspects of the cervical vertebrae with compressive myelopathy. She underwent surgical decompression and was noted to have caseous drainage during the procedure. She was started promptly on anti-tuberculous therapy after she had a positive interferon-gamma release assay. Late culture results confirmed isolated cervical TB of the vertebrae as the diagnosis. Prompt awareness and initiation of treatment for vertebral TB are necessary as clinical presentation can mimic other infectious and malignant etiologies.
First Page
e35383
DOI
10.7759/cureus.35383
Volume
15
Issue
2
Publication Date
2-23-2023
PubMed ID
36987467
Recommended Citation
Mahmoud, A. A., Abdelhay, A., Eltaher, B., & Mohamed, M. S. (2023). Isolated Tuberculosis of the Cervical Vertebrae. Cureus, 15 (2), e35383. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.35383