Skip to main content
Log in

Tuberculous spondylitis in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing chronic hemodialysis therapy — Report of two cases

  • Case Report
  • Published:
Central European Journal of Medicine

Abstract

Tuberculous spondylitis is more common in patients with chronic renal failure who receive hemodialysis because of their abnormal T-cell-mediated immunity. It frequently poses both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. We describe two cases of tuberculous spondylitis in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis therapy. They are IFN-γ assay diagnosed (QuantiFERON-TB Gold) and conservatively treated. Our cases suggest that IFN-γ assays equip clinicians with more accurate tools for tuberculosis control. A combination of T-SPOT.TB testing and MRI assessment may be the accurate method to diagnose tuberculous spondylitis in patients with end-stage renal disease.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. American Thoracic Society; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Infectious Diseases Society of America American Thoracic Society/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Infectious Diseases Society of America: controlling tuberculosis in the United States. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2005, 172, 1169–1227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Chou KJ, Fang HC, Bai KJ, Hwang SJ, Yang WC, Chung HM: Tuberculosis in maintenance dialysis patients. Nephron 2001, 88, 138–143

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Passalent L, Khan K, Richardson R, Wang J, Dedier H, Gardam M: Detecting Latent Tuberculosis Infection in Hemodialysis Patients: A Head-to-Head Comparison of the T-SPOT.TB Test, Tuberculin Skin Test, and an Expert Physician Panel Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2007, 2, 68–73

    Google Scholar 

  4. Poduval RD, Hammes MD: Tuberculosis screening in dialysis patients: Is the tuberculin test effective? Clin Nephrol 2003, 59, 436–440

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Khalfallah M, Faure A, Hamel O, Cantarovich D, Doe K, Raoul S, Bord E, Robert R: Dialysis-associated spondyloarthropathy. Case report and literature review. Neurochirurgie 2005, 51, 165–172

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Shankar MS, Aravindan AN, Sohal PM, Kohli HS, Sud K, Gupta KL, Sakhuja V, Jha V: The prevalence of tuberculin sensitivity and anergy in chronic renal failure in an endemic area: Tuberculin test and the risk of post-transplant tuberculosis. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2005, 20, 2720–2724

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Fang HC, Chou KJ, Chen CL, Lee PT, Chiou YH, Hung SY, Chung HM: Tuberculin skin test and anergy in dialysis patients of a tuberculosis-endemic area. Nephron 2002, 91, 682–687

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Wauters A, Peetermans WE, Van den Brande P, De Moor B, Evenepoel P, Keuleers H, Kuypers D, Stas K, Vanwalleghem J, Vanrenterghem Y, Maes BD: The value of tuberculin skin testing in haemodialysis patients J. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2004, 19, 433–438

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Aggarwal I: Tuberculosis — diagnosis and investigation. Hospital Pharmacist 2006, 13, 73–78

    Google Scholar 

  10. Niu CC, Chen WJ, Chen LH, Shih CH: Destructive spondyloarthropathy mimicking spondylitis in long-term hemodialysis patients. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 2000, 120, 594–597

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Arend SM, Thijsen SF, Leyten EM, Bouwman JJ, Franken WP, Koster BF, Cobelens FG, van Houte AJ, Bossink AW: Comparison of two interferon-gamma assays and tuberculin skin test for tracing tuberculosis contacts. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2007, 175, 618–627

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Pai M, Lewinsohn DM: Interferon gamma assays for tuberculosis. Is anergy the Achilles’ heel? Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2005, 172, 519–521

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Brock I, Munk ME, Kok-Jensen A, Andersen P: Performance of whole blood IFN-gamma test for tuberculosis diagnosis based on PPD or the specific antigens ESAT-6 and CFP-10. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 2001, 5, 462–467

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kosta Kostov.

About this article

Cite this article

Kostov, K., Yovchevski, P. & Petrov, I. Tuberculous spondylitis in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing chronic hemodialysis therapy — Report of two cases. cent.eur.j.med 5, 475–477 (2010). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11536-009-0093-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11536-009-0093-7

Keywords

Navigation