Cervical tuberculosis in early childhood.
METHODS
We present a case of spinal tuberculosis in a 4-year-old girl that grounds severe vertebral destruction involving four cervical vertebrae and a large abscess with retropharyngeal expansion. Presenting symptoms were neck and right arm pain, torticollis and weakness of the right arm. We drained the abscess and removed the infected bone and reconstructed the cervical spine with a fibular allograft. The neurological deficits were recovered and the torticollis was straightened up.


CONCLUSIONS
We emphasize the value of early diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis and early radical surgery with spinal reconstruction.
Dogulu
Fikret
F
Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University of Gazi, Besevler, 06500 Ankara, Turkey. fdogulu@hotmail.com
Baykaner
M Kemali
MK
Onk
Ayhan
A
Celik
Bulent
B
Ceviker
Necdet
N
D000038:Abscess / Q000601:surgery; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*