Abstract
Objective: To compare the presentation, diagnosis and treatment of spinal tuberculosis in two cities, one in the UK, and one in Malaysia
Design: Retrospective comparison over a five-year period from June 1995. The Centres studied were the Royal Orthopaedic and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals, Birmingham (UK), and the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital (KL), Malaysia.
Subjects: There were 80 patients (29 females, mean age 42) in the KL group, and 19 patients (8 females, mean age 45) in the UK group.
Outcome measures: Frankel grading before and after treatment were measured for both groups.
Results: KL patients had higher rates of immunocompromise, and had fewer spinal levels involved, 2.1 compared with 2.6 (p-−0.04). There were 65 procedures, 58 positive ZN stains, and 65 positive cultures as compared with 24, 2 and 9 in Birmingham respectively. Improvement in Frankel grading was seen in four patients in UK (5 grades), and in 17 patients in KL (29 grades).
Conclusions: Although the two groups exhibited similar demographics, the rate of immunocompromise-related tuberculosis, severity of neurological deficit, and type of surgery undertaken differed significantly. Reasons for the difficulty in identifying the tubercle bacillus in Birmingham are discussed.
Abstracts prepared by Mr. A. J. Stirling, FRCS, and Miss A. Weaver. Correspondence should be addressed to Miss A. Weaver at the Research and Teaching Centre, Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Northfield, Birmingham, B31 2AP, UK
BritSpine 2002, the second combined meeting of the British Association of Spinal Surgeons, the British Cervical Spine Society, The British Scoliosis Society and the Society for Back Pain Research, took place at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham UK between 27th February and 1st March 2002. The following presentations and posters were given and displayed.
