Severe kyphotic deformity in tuberculosis of the spine.

Almost 3% of cases of tuberculosis of the spine develop a severe kyphotic deformity. The patients at risk are those who developed the disease under the age of 10 years, who had involvement of three or more vertebral bodies and had lesions between C7 to L1. A severe kyphosis is more than a cosmetic disfigurement because nearly all such patients develop cardiopulmonary dysfunction, painful impingement between ribs and pelvis and compression of the spinal cord with paraplegia at an average of 10 years after the onset of the disease. Correction of the established deformity is difficult and dangerous. Anterior transposition of the cord does not always result in permanent neurological recovery, so it is imperative to diagnose and treat the condition either before bony destruction has occurred or when it is in an early phase. Those patients who are at risk of developing a severe deformity should be treated by posterior fusion of the spine.