Treatment Outcomes among Pediatric Patients with Cervical Pott’s Disease in a Tertiary Care Center A Case Series
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Abstract
Tuberculosis remains a perennial global problem despite advances in detection and treatment. Apart from the pulmonary system, it can also affect the spine of both adult and pediatric patients, with a predilection for the thoracic and lumbar spine. Rarely does spinal TB or Pott’s disease affect the cervical spine and there are few high-level studies in the pediatric population.
Variations are the following: Atlantoaxial/Upper Cervical TB (AATB), Subaxial Cervical TB (SACTB), and Cervicothoracic TB (CTTB). Motor and sensory deficits are more common in CTTB and some SACTB patients while myelopathic signs predominate in AATB patients. The mainstay of treatment for pediatric cervical TB is still anti-tubercular treatment (ATT) using anti-Koch’s medication depending on the level of drug resistance. For some patients, surgery may be indicated with CTTB having the lowest threshold because of its anatomic location. Most patients improve after a year of treatment with at least a 1 Frankel letter grade improvement.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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