Study of Clinico-Radiological Profile of Patients with Spinal Tuberculosis

Abstract

Weight, height and a1% to 3% of TB patients have bone or joint disease, and spinal TB typically develops as a secondary infection following a primary infection that has devastating side effects including tubercular spondylodiscitis, spondylitis, collapsing vertebral elements, and even anterior wedging that results in the development of gibbus and kyphosis. Due to its delayed onset and vague symptoms, spinal TB is challenging to diagnose. This study investigates the clinical, radiographic, and resistance trends of spinal tuberculosis in a Tertiary care facility. Material And Methods: The observational cross-sectional research was place from 2020 to 2021. In the research, 54 patients were included. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) descriptive statistics were computed to determine the clinical and radiological spectrum. Additionally, we simultaneously collected tissue samples from the spine, evaluated them using Truenat, and used a Z-test to compare two sample proportions using traditional histopathological biopsies. Results: The thoracic and lumbar vertebrae were found to have spinal involvement most commonly, with more than four vertebrae being affected in most instances, according to MRI scans. In 85.19% of the instances, there was vertebral body degradation, in 42.59% there was vertebral collapse, and in 42.59% there was deformity. Of the 54 trial participants, 49 (90.74%) had spinal TB that was treatable with drugs, whereas 5 (9.26%) had the more severe form of the disease. Two individuals had Pre-XDR TB, two had multi-drug resistant TB (H+R) TB resistant to rifampicin and isoniazid and one patient had XDR-TB among those with drug-resistant spinal TB. Conclusion: The majority of the 54 patients who were recruited were male and had a prevalence of muscular spasm and back pain as their first recognized symptoms. The radiographic evaluation showed that 61.1% of the lumbar involvement and 63% of the thoracic involvement both exhibited disc enhancements, cold abscesses, decreased disc space, osteitis indications, cord compression with vertebral collapse, and limited disc space. In our analysis, the posterior portion was more often involved (74.1% of cases). Using the Truenat and Line Probe Assay test, drug-resistant spinal tuberculosis was identified in five out of fifty-four individuals.