• Eva M N Wouda, Ymkje Stienstra, Tjip S van der Werf, Huib Kerstjens, de LangeWiel C MWCMDepartment of Pulmonary Diseases and Tuberculosis, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Tuberculosis Center Beatrixoord, H, Maarten Coppes, Jos Kuijlen, Marga Tepper, and Onno W Akkerman.
• Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Tuberculosis, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
• NeuroRehabilitation. 2017 Jan 1; 40 (3): 439-445.

BackgroundSpinal tuberculosis (TB) accounts for approximately 1% to 3% of all TB cases and it can cause a wide range of neurological symptoms, from none to a complete spinal cord injury (SCI), resulting in complete paraplegia or tetraplegia.ObjectivesTo describe the functional and neurological outcome of SCI caused by TB.MethodsRetrospective data on the admission period was combined with prospectively collected data on long-term follow-up. Primary outcome was neurological outcome in terms of motor function. Secondary outcome measures were functional outcome in terms of level of independence and community participation. Results were compared to the outcome in patients with SCI due to trauma.ResultsSix TB patients with complete motor SCI (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) A or B) were compared to eighteen patients with traumatic SCI. Most TB patients regained almost full neurological function (median motor score improved from 50 to 100), and reached high levels of independence, whereas trauma patients did not improve neurologically (median motor score remained 50) and reached a plateau in level of independence.ConclusionsSCI due to tuberculosis in the Netherlands shows remarkable improvement in both neurological and functional outcome, especially compared with traumatic SCI.

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