Tuberculosis of bilateral first costotransverse joints.

Involvement of posterior spine constitutes to 1-6% of the cases of spinal tuberculosis (TB). To the best of our knowledge, TB of costotransverse joints has only been reported once in the literature. The purpose of this study is to describe a case of TB arthritis of costotransverse joints. A 22-year-old immunocompetent patient presented with a 3-month history of pain in the neck and upper back along with a swelling on the left side of the base of the neck. On performing an MRI of the cervicodorsal spine, there was evidence of destructive collections at the bilateral first and right-sided second costotransverse joints. The patient was diagnosed as a case of tubercular pathology and was managed successfully with antitubercular chemotherapy.