Amber Goraya, Uzma Habib, Aysha Anjum.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings in Spinal Tuberculosis.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;7(4):1160-3.

Aim: To determine the MRI findings in spinal tuberculosis Methods: The descriptive study was conducted at the Department of Radiology, Children Hospital, Institute of Child Health, Lahore from 7-01-2013 to 6-10-2013. A total number of 109 known cases of tuberculosis of both the sexes were included in this study. It was descriptive study. Patients were selected by non-probability convenience sampling. Patients were diagnosed on the basis of clinical examination, history and following investigations: Sputum cytology, CBC, and ESR. Chest X-ray also performed for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Gold standard of the diagnosis of inflammatory lesion of spine was histopathological biopsies. All features of MRI observed in biopsy proven cases were carefully evaluated. Results:. Age of the patients ranged between 5-50 year. Mean age of the patients was 34.91±7.33. Out of 109 cases of tuberculous spine 62 (56.9%) were male and 47 (43.1%) were female. Most common clinical features of spinal tuberculosis were low grade fever 84.4% and backache 65.1%. MRI findings of spinal tuberculosis were found as follows: reduced inter- vertebral disc space 95 (87.2%), wedge collapse of body 35 (32.1%), complete destruction of body 42 (39.5%), paraspinal abscess, calcification 34 (31.2%) and cord compression 28 (25.7%) Conclusion: MRI is a great diagnostic modality for spinal TB as well as being more sensitive than plain radiography. It offers the diagnosis of spinal TB earlier than conventional methods offering the advantages of earlier diagnosis and treatment.

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