[Diagnosis and treatment of extensive vertebral tuberculosis].

Tuberculous spondylodiscitis called Pott's disease is the most common presentation of vertebral tuberculosis. Atypical presentation is rare and its diagnosis also difficult. We report a retrospective analysis of 7 immunocompetent patients treated for extensive vertebral tuberculosis. Five men and two women, between 5 and 39 Years. The median age was 24 Years. Clinical features were incomplete tetraplegia (4 cases), complete paraplegia (1 case) incomplete paraplegia (1 cases), and lumbocruralgia (1 case). Spinal X-ray revealed spondylodiscitis. Both CT Scan and MRI are very useful to determine the extent of the lesions. Bacteriological and histological diagnosis can be deficient. For this reason, we insist on a the contribution of antituberculous treatment to diagnosis. But the appearance of drug-resistance can limit the role of antituberculous chemotherapy in achieving diagnosis.