Case report: two-year-old boy with a limp

Severe Pott's Kyphosis in a 19-Month-Old Child: Case Report and Review of Literature

BACKGROUND

Spinal osseous tuberculosis, or Pott's spine, although very common in endemic countries, has a lower incidence in very young children. However, the infection has the propensity to cause greater vertebral destruction in this age group, leading to severe structural kyphotic deformity and associated neurologic deficits. We report the case of a 19-month-old child with severe tubercular kyphotic deformity of the upper thoracic spine managed with posterior vertebral column resection (VCR) and nonfusion posterior pedicle screw instrumentation.

CASE DESCRIPTION

This 19-month-old boy presented with 1-month history of spontaneous-onset, progressive, painful rigid kyphotic deformity of the upper back associated with spastic paraparesis with bowel and bladder incontinence. Magnetic resonance imaging showed severe destruction of bodies of D4-D7 vertebrae with cord edema and draping of the spinal cord over the internal gibbus at D4-D7. Surgery was performed with a restricted anterior fusion via single-stage posterior VCR at D4-D7 with nonfusion pedicle screw instrumentation from D1 to D9, with subsequent extension of instrumentation to D10 after 4 months.

CONCLUSIONS

Multilevel posterior VCR with a restricted fusion and nonfusion pedicle screw instrumentation beyond the resection site can be safely done in young children (age <3 years) requiring rigid tubercular kyphotic deformity correction. However, these patients require regular follow-up and may need multiple surgeries.

Surgical treatment of thoracic Pott disease in a 3-year-old child, with vertebral column resection and posterior-only circumferential reconstruction of the spinal column: case report

Tuberculosis (TB) is a common disease worldwide that is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis of the spine, also called Pott disease, is the most common site of bony dissemination. Although children are disproportionately affected, spinal TB is nonetheless rare in very young children. Cases involving infants requiring surgical intervention have been previously reported, and they are often associated with greater management challenges given the technical difficulty with instrumentation in very young children. This case involved a 3-year-old girl with TB centered at T-6, who presented with myelopathy from spinal cord compression and a severe kyphotic deformity (> 60°). She underwent a single-stage costotransversectomy for vertebral column resection, followed by reconstruction with an anterior expandable titanium cage and posterior pedicle screw instrumentation. At last follow-up, the patient was clinically and radiographically stable. The authors report on the youngest patient with spinal TB treated surgically with this strategy and review the literature regarding prior cases involving young children. Although limited by the paucity of cases in the literature, surgical debridement and spinal fusion appear to provide a safe alternative to prolonged bed rest or casting and may offer additional benefits of a faster recovery and ambulation.

A childhood case of spinal tuberculosis misdiagnosed as muscular dystrophy

Tuberculosis is primarily a pulmonary disease, but extra-pulmonary manifestations are not uncommon, especially in children and adolescents. Ten percent of extra pulmonary tuberculosis localizes to the bones and joints, and 56% of such cases affect the spine. We treated a childhood case of spinal tuberculosis misdiagnosed as muscular dystrophy in a patient without specific constitutional symptoms. We report this case because the patient had an unusual presentation of spinal tuberculosis.