Tuberculous spondylitis. A report of six cases and a review of the literature.

Tuberculous spondylitis in the United States is a disease of decreasing incidence and, when the incidence is compared to that of developing nations, affects an older population. The thoracic and lumbar spine is most frequently involved, and in advanced disease several vertebrae may be destroyed with resulting significant morbidity and mortality. The usual clinical presentation consists of fever, back pain, and nonspecific systemic symptoms of varying duration. More advanced disease presents with neurological deficits, kyphotic deformities of the spinal column, and paravertebral cold abscesses. Treatment has changed in the past 50 years not only because of the introduction of highly effective anti-tuberculous chemotherapeutic agents, but also because of the development of new surgical approaches. Controlled studies comparing various surgical and more conservative therapeutic regimens have been conducted within the past decade. Despite these new data, controversy remains regarding the indications for surgical treatment, since anti-tuberculous chemotherapy alone is successful in a large proportion of cases. However, in situations where rapid loss of neurologic function is evident or in which progressive deterioration in spinal cord function continues in the face of apparently adequate drug therapy, it appears that anterior surgical decompression of the spinal cord is indicated to prevent irreversible neurologic deficits. Needle biopsy of bone lesions under fluoroscopic or computed tomographic control is essential in the initial evaluation of patients in order to obtain cultural confirmation of tuberculosis.