Tuberculosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Tuberculosis, including details on symptoms, causes, treatment, pulmonary, mycobacterium.

Tuberculous osteomyelitis of the knee.

Combalia A, Sastre S, Esteban P

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Pathology, Muskuloskeletal Oncology Unit, Hospital Clinic, C/Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Spain.

Tuberculosis is a mycobacterial infestation which generally involves the lungs. Primary bone tuberculosis without involving the joint is rare. A 35-year-old Pakistani immigrant presented with a mass and pain over the medial aspect of the knee that had persisted for 6 months. Clinical and radiological investigations revealed a tuberculous affectation of the distal epiphysis of the femur. We did not find any visceral organ involvement. Wide excision was performed, completed with antituberculostatic drugs for 9 months postoperatively. In the 2nd postoperative year, the patient was symptom-free, and the imaging test results were normal. Primary bone tuberculosis without joint affection is a rare presentation form of this disease and should be kept in mind in the diagnostic work-up of a mass of a bone lesion.

Published 16 December 2004 in Arch Orthop Trauma Surg, 124(10): 708-10.
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