What is it about?
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria mycobacterium tuberculosis. It can affect the lung when it is termed pulmonary tuberculosis. When it affects organs outside the lung it is termed extra pulmonary tuberculosis. One such site is the skeletal system. The commonest bone to be affected is the spine or backbone. Many other bones like bigger joints can be affected, but an isolated involvement of the ribs is rare. We describe a man who had no immune system disorder presenting with isolated tuberculosis of two ribs.
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Why is it important?
It is commonly believed that bone disease occurs mostly in patients with a compromised immune system. In this report, we studied an adult with an intact immune system with rib tuberculosis. That is, this patient had no HIV infection, was not on medications that suppress the immune system, or had no congenital or acquired conditions that compromise immunity. Some of the recent research relevant to this condition is discussed in the article.
Perspectives
Three health care providers had missed the diagnosis of point pain in two ribs accompanied by fever, fatigue, and weight loss. They had dismissed his pain as a nonspecific presentation of a febrile illness. Also, they had utilised chest x-rays that are notoriously negative in the early stages of rib tuberculosis. We employed a CT scan that readily showed damaged ribs and further tests led to the correct diagnosis. It was gratifying to make the correct diagnosis and witness complete recovery after treatment.
Dr Venkatraman Rajkumar
Banting Clinic for Diabetes and Endocrinology Chennai India
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Isolated Tuberculosis of the Ribs in an Immunocompetent Adult, touchREVIEWS in Infectious Diseases, January 2022, Touch Digital Media, Ltd.,
DOI: 10.17925/id.2022.1.1.39.
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