What is Potts TB?

Pott disease, also known as tuberculous spondylitis, is a classic presentation of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB). It is associated with significant morbidity and can lead to severe functional impairment.

How is Potts disease diagnosed?

Approach Considerations

Tuberculin skin test (PPD) – Results are positive in 84-95% of patients with Pott disease who are not infected with HIV.
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) – May be markedly elevated (>100 mm/h)
Microbiologic and PCR studies – Used to confirm the diagnosis.

Which complication is associated with Pott’s disease?

Deformity, abscess, and paraplegia are the only complications of Pott’s disease occurring with sufficient frequency to merit especial consideration.

What is spinal cord TB?

In spinal tuberculosis, characteristically, there is destruction of the intervertebral disk space and the adjacent vertebral bodies, collapse of the spinal elements, and anterior wedging leading to the characteristic angulation and gibbus (palpable deformity because of involvement of multiple vertebrae) formation.

Is Potts disease curable?

Tuberculosis (TB) is most common in developing countries, but more than 9,000 cases were reported in the United States in 2016. Tuberculosis is preventable, and if it’s contracted and discovered early, it’s generally treatable.

How common is Pott’s disease?

In the United States, bone and soft tissue tuberculosis accounts for approximately 10% of extrapulmonary TB cases and between 1% and 2% of total cases. Of these cases, Pott’s disease is the most common manifestation of musculoskeletal TB, accounting for approximately 40-50%.

Can Potts disease be cured?

Patients with Pott’s disease often undergo spinal fusion or spinal decompression surgeries to correct their structural deformity and prevent further neurological complications. There are no established guidelines which dictate treatments that will yield positive outcomes in such patients.

Where does the disease Pott’s disease come from?

The formal name for the disease is tuberculous spondylitis . Pott’s disease results from haematogenous spread of tuberculosis from other sites, often the lungs. The infection then spreads from two adjacent vertebrae into the adjoining intervertebral disc space.

How is Pott’s disease related to spinal tuberculosis?

1 In pott’s disease paralysis might result from the compression of the spine. 2 Spinal tuberculosis accounts for around 2 % of all the tuberculosis cases. 3 According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O), approximately one-third of the world’s population is infected with… More …

When did Sir Percival Pott describe the disease TB?

Tuberculosis (TB), as a disease has been known since ancient times. It was described as early as 1000 to 600 BCE as “Yakshama” in ancient Indian medical literature as well as the Sushruta Samhita and Charaka Samhita. In 1779, Sir Percival Pott described the tubercular disease of the spinal column pr …

How does Pott’s disease affect the intervertebral joints?

Although it is primarily a lung disease, some of the tissues present outside the lungs are also affected. In the advanced stages, the disease even progresses to the spine and affects the intervertebral joints. Mainly considering the different symptoms, Pott’s disease is also known as “tuberculosis spondylitis” or “spinal tuberculosis”.

When did Sir Percival Pott describe the Tubercular Disease?

In 1779, Sir Percival Pott described the tubercular disease of the spinal column presenting clinically with kyphotic deformity and neurological deficit in European patients.[2]