Tuberculosis spine mimicked by spondylosis

Dear Sir,

Tuberculosis (TB) is an important public health. It can be seen worldwide. In some cases, extrapulmonary lesion can be seen. TB spine is an important condition that can cause disability to the affected case. The case is usually delayed diagnosis. ^[1],[2] Here, the authors report an interesting case of TB spine that can be the lesson to the general practitioner. The case is a 63-year-old female presenting with the history of low back pain for 2 months. The patient could not stand or walk. This case had several visited many orthopedists before final diagnosis. On the previous visit to the orthopedists, the patient had got lumbosacral spine X-ray and the spondylosis at L3 and L4 was seen and it was accused to be the cause of low back pain in the patient. The case was managed by analgesic and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for many weeks, but the symptoms did not improve. She visited the other two orthopedists and got the same style of diagnosis and management. Her symptoms worsened and she could not walk; therefore, she was bought by her son to the medical center, and the magnetic resonance imaging was finally done and the TB spine lesion at T11 could be seen. This case is a good lesson to the practitioner in the tropical world where TB is common. Early TB spine is difficult to diagnose and the simple X-ray is usually useless. The combined spondylosis and TB spine is possible and makes it extremely difficult for diagnosis as in the present report.

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DOI: 10.4103/1755-6783.190213