title: Spinal tuberculosis with circumferential involvement of two noncontiguous isolated vertebral levels: case report.
abstract: We present a case of a 16-year-old boy with an atypical form of spinal tuberculosis, which circumferentially involved two noncontiguous vertebral levels without destruction of the adjacent vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs. The lesions caused paraplegia and loss of sphincter control, and they were confined to a single vertebra at each site; the findings more closely mimicked spinal malignancies. There was no evidence of pulmonary or other extrapulmonary tuberculous disease. The patient was successfully treated both surgically and medically using posterior decompression and a stabilizing procedure in combination with postoperative antituberculous therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging played a major role in determining the extent of the disease and the type of surgical procedure and in monitoring adequate medical treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Trakya University School of Medicine, Edirne, Turkey.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kulali
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cobanoğlu
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ozyilmaz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D013123:Spinal Fusion; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014399:Tuberculosis, Spinal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents