Pulmonary tuberculosis with multifocal skeletal involvement

Abstract

Skeletal tuberculosis accounts for 1-5% of all tuberculosis infections. Of these infections, 50% involve the vertebral column and only 0-5% involve ribs. Rib tuberculosis is seen in only 0.1% of all tuberculosis infections. Skeletal tuberculosis is localised to a single site in 90-95% of reported cases. Multifocal involvement is uncommon and is usually associated with disseminated disease. We present a case of pulmonary tuberculosis associated with multifocal skeletal involvement.

Keywords

• Multiple lytic vertebral lesions
• Skeletal tuberculosis