POSTERIOR SPINAL TUBERCULOSIS MIMICKING SPINAL TUMOR

Tuberculosis infection is seen with increasing frequency both in developed as well as undeveloped countries. vertebral body is a common place for the tuberculous infection, however it is rare to involve the posterior arch. here we present a 25 year old male who presented with destructive mass lesion in the posterior elements, progressed to involve the cord causing paraplegia. The diagnosis was more in favour of a spinal tumor or metastasis as there was no abscess collection. We have performed a decompression surgery with stabilization, biopsy of the lesion was suggestive of tuberculosis. the patient was followed up for 2 years with good results and complete healing of the lesion.