Atypical Pott's disease: localized infection of the thoracic spine due to Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare in a patient without human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAI) rarely causes disease of the spine in healthy individuals. We describe an elderly woman who had isolated skeletal involvement with MAI, mimicking Pott's disease. She responded well to surgical excision of the inflamed tissue and antibiotic therapy. Osteomyelitis due to MAI must be differentiated from that due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis because the treatment regimens are different.