Profile of osteoarticular tuberculosis in children

Clinical characteristic, common sites, and geographical distribution of pediatric tuberculosis patients in Southwest China

Background

The data report of a large sample, dynamic epidemiology, and characteristic analysis of pediatric tuberculosis (TB) in Southwest China is not clear. Herein, we conducted descriptive dynamic epidemiology, characteristic analysis and geographical distribution study of pediatric TB inpatients in Southwest China for more than 20 years.

Methods

Patients with pediatric TB were recruited from October 2002 to September 2022 in Southwest of China based on etiology or clinical confirmation. Extract hospitalization medical record information for each patient. The geographical distribution chart of cases is used to display the trend of case flow segmented every 5 years.

Results

Among 3,024 pediatric TB patients with an average age of 9.11 ± 4.39, 17.49% (529) had pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), 9.06% (274) had extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), and 73.45% (2,221) had combined TB. The most common form of EPTB is disseminated TB (28.98%), followed by TB lymphadenitis (20.56%), pleural TB (19.72%), and TB meningitis (19.68%). Children aged 0-4 years had a high risk of TB meningitis and a severe symptoms, while children in the elderly age group had a high risk of pleural TB. In the past 20 years, hospitalized TB pediatric cases mainly came from Sichuan, Tibet, Qinghai, Yunnan and other places. The number of patients from ethnic minorities, especially Tibetans, showed an upward trend on a yearly basis (χ2 = 401.43, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Public health investment and effective management in pediatric TB should be further strengthened.

Skeletal Tuberculosis in Pediatric Population for 15 Years; Twenty Cases from Southern Turkey

BACKGROUND

Skeletal tuberculosis is rarely seen among extrapulmonary tuberculosis, especially in childhood because the diagnosis may be delayed for years due to diagnostic difficulties. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics, methods used in diagnosis, treatment specifics, and prognosis of patients diagnosed with bone joint tuberculosis in childhood.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty patients diagnosed with skeletal tuberculosis in our hospital between Jan 1, 2006, and Jan 1, 2021, were evaluated retrospectively.

RESULTS

The age of the patients ranged from seven to 191 months. 70% of the patients presented with complaints of pain, 50% with swelling, and 20% with limping. The duration of the complaints was 3.82 ± 4 months on average. While 65% of the patients had isolated skeletal TB, 30% were accompanied with pulmonary tuberculosis. Tuberculin skin test (TST) was positive in 13 (65%) patients. Seven (35%) of the patients were diagnosed with proven TB. The most frequent involvement was seen in knee bones (25%), followed by vertebra (15%), foot (15%), and wrist (15%) bones. In the radiological findings, 65% of the patients had mass, 45% destruction, 35% enhancement/edema, 5% calcification/sclerosis, 5% cyst, and 35% soft tissue abscess. In the follow-up, 50% of the patients recovered without sequelae.

CONCLUSION

Skeletal tuberculosis can easily be missed in childhood due to its slow insidious course, non-specific symptoms, and bone findings, resulting in delayed diagnosis and may lead to sequelae which affect lifelong quality of life. We should keep the possibility of skeletal tuberculosis in mind when we see the patients with limping or localized lesions accompanied with pain or swelling.

Primary psoas tuberculosis abscess with an iliac bone lytic lesion: a case report

BACKGROUND

Primary psoas tuberculosis is the presence of "Koch's bacillus'' within the iliopsoas muscle caused by hematogenous or lymphatic seeding from a distant site. Muscular tuberculosis has relatively low prevalence in comparison with other cases of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, which explains the difficulties in establishing the diagnosis.

CASE PRESENTATION

In this report, we present a challenging diagnostic case of primary psoas tuberculosis in a 38-year-old middle eastern female from southern Syria. The diagnosis was based on the clinical orientation, the observation of pulmonary lesions on the computed tomography scan, and the necrotic signs in the vicinity of the infected area. Despite the misleading primary false-negative results, the final diagnosis was reached after sufficient repetition of tuberculosis-specific testing. The patient was treated with isoniazid-rifampin-pyrazinamide-ethambutol for 2 months, then isoniazid and rifampin for 7 months, with full recovery in follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

This case highlights the importance of a clinical-based approach in the treatment of patients with psoas abscesses, especially in areas with high tuberculosis prevalence.

Pediatric Osteoarticular Tuberculosis as a Diagnostic Dilemma and a Review of Literature

Introduction

Despite tuberculosis being rampant in the Indian subcontinent, most cases of osteoarticular (OA) tuberculosis (TB) are missed until significant bony destruction has occurred. Initial presentation of extra-pulmonary TB mimics many other disease entities while many diseases mimic TB. This may lead to an incorrect diagnosis and sometimes creates a dilemma in reaching the correct diagnosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate a series of pediatric cases of osteoarticular TB, which posed a diagnostic challenge to us.

Material and methods

Retrospective analysis of case records of pediatric OA-TB patients who had presented to two tertiary level centers of urban India between February 2016 and December 2020 was done. There were a total of 69 patients. 

Observations

There were 37 males and 32 females. The age range was from two to 17 years. Forty-four patients showed evidence of disease within the spine (dorsal region followed by lumbar, followed by the cervical spine), 16 showed disease of the extremities, six had disease of the girdle bones, and three showed disease of the short bones of hands or foot. In our series, patients presented to us between 15 days to six months from the onset of symptoms. From our series, six cases with atypical clinical pictures have been selected for presentation purposes. In all six cases, the initial presentation was not that of OA-TB. However, with a high degree of suspicion, differential diagnosis of TB was kept in mind, and the diagnosis was confirmed microbiologically.

Conclusion

A high degree of suspicion is required to avoid missing the diagnosis of osteoarticular TB. Non-invasive advanced radiological investigations such as MRI and microbiological analysis of biopsy specimens aid in arriving at the correct diagnosis.