We studied 51 patients with osteo-articular tuberculosis who were divided into two groups. Group I comprised 31 newly-diagnosed patients who were given first-line antituberculous treatment consisting of isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide. Group II (non-responders) consisted of 20 patients with a history of clinical non-responsiveness to supervised uninterrupted antituberculous treatment for a minimum of three months or a recurrence of a previous lesion which on clinical observation had healed. No patient in either group was HIV-positive. Group II were treated with an immunomodulation regime of intradermal BCG, oral levamisole and intramuscular diphtheria and tetanus vaccines as an adjunct for eight weeks in addition to antituberculous treatment. We gave antituberculous treatment for a total of 12 to 18 months in both groups and they were followed up for a mean of 30.2 months (24 to 49). A series of 20 healthy blood donors served as a control group. Twenty-nine (93.6%) of the 31 patients in group I and 14 of the 20 (70%) in group II had a clinicoradiological healing response to treatment by five months. The CD4 cell count in both groups was depressed at the time of enrolment, with a greater degree of depression in the group-II patients (686 cells/mm3 (
The efficacy of modern drugs in the treatment of tuberculosis of the spine has been evaluated by a personal follow-up for three to ten years. Operation on the vertebral lesion was done only for those patients with or without neural complications who failed to respond favourably to drug therapy and rest. Thus absolute indications for operation were present in only 6 per cent of cases without neural involvement and in 60 per cent of patients with neural deficit. Of the patients who responded to drug therapy alone, only 19 per cent revealed increase of kyphosis by more than 10 degrees. The diseased area showed radiological evidence of osseous replacement in 29.6 per cent of cases, of fibro-osseous union in 50 per cent and of fibrous replacement in 202 per cent. The overall results of this regime compare favourably with those of radical operation. It is suggested that freatment should in the first place be by modern antitubercular drugs.
1. Chronic tuberculous osseous lesions were induced consistently in eight- to ten-week-old unvaccinated guinea-pigs by the insertion of Gelfoam impregnated with mycobacterium tuberculosis into the metaphysial region through a drill hole in the distal part of the femur. Typical tuberculous lesions developed by three weeks and many of them were followed for twelve weeks or more. 2. This experimental model establishes a reliable method of producing a localised lesion at a predetermined site without early death of the animal. The model is sufficiently similar to the human lesion, and may offer a reliable system for further investigations. 3. It was observed that streptomycin penetrates readily into tuberculous osseous lesions. The concentration of streptomycin found in the tuberculous lesion after a single intramuscular injection was much higher than the concentration considered sufficient to have an inhibitory effect on the human type of mycobacterium tuberculosis.
1. Two cases of congenital diastasis of the inferior tibio-fibular mortise are described. 2. No previous description of this condition has been found in the literature. 3. it is suggested that the cause is osteochondrosis of the distal tibial epiphysis associated with a club foot.
