title: Tubercular spinal epidural abscess involving the dorsal-lumbar-sacral region without osseous involvement.
abstract: Musculoskeletal tuberculosis is known for its ability to present in various forms and guises at different sites. Tubercular spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is an uncommon infectious entity. Its presence without associated osseous involvement may be considered an extremely rare scenario. We present a rare case of tubercular SEA in an immune-competent 35-year-old male patient. The patient presented with acute cauda equina syndrome and was shown to have multisegmental SEA extending from D5 to S2 vertebral level without any evidence of vertebral involvement on MRI. The patient made an uneventful recovery following surgical decompression and antitubercular chemotherapy. The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological demonstration of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in drained pus. Such presentation of tubercular SEA has not been reported previously in the English language based medical literature to the best of our knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Maulana Azad Medical College and Associated Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi-110002, India. mamc_309@yahoo.co.in
authors.forename: Sumit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019299:Decompression, Surgical; D020802:Epidural Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012445:Sacrococcygeal Region; D014390:Tuberculosis, Meningeal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents