A rare widespread tuberculous spondylitis extended from the T5-T10 levels – a case report

Tuberculous spondylitis is an infection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the spine and might compromise the vertebrae. Patients often come to treatment at an advanced stage; whilst early diagnosis might be quite tricky. Twenty two years old male patient experienced a weakness, tingling and thickness in both lower limbs that worsened since 1 week before the admission. The imaging results of the multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) with contrast and X-ray was obtained by impression of pulmonary tuberculosis and lead to the diagnosis of tuberculous spondylitis. Infection developed into a paravertebral abscess in the form of back swelling that is clearly observed at the radiological features with T5-T10 levels of lesion. In this case, neuropathology may be caused by compression of the spinal cord by the abscess; worsened by an ongoing infection and inflammation. Motor deficits might be due to the extended lesion in the anterior horn of the spinal cord; whilst the sensory deficits due to the posterior horn lesion. After medication with anti-tuberculosis and stabilization of the back, patient achieved significant improvement. This underlining the importance of basic anatomy knowledge and its clinical correlation for optimizing patient's diagnosis and treatment.