Introduction. Among infectious diseases, tuberculosis ranks first in terms of
morbidity and mortality. It mainly affects the lungs, but it can affect any
organ in the body. Case Report. A 29-year old female patient, bacillus
Calmette-Guerin vaccinated, human immunodeficiency virus-negative,
non-smoker, active athlete, presented with magnetic resonance imaging of the
spine indicating vertebral body collapse of Th10 with signs of intraosseous
infiltration, extraosseous prevertebral, and extracorporeal spread into the
spinal canal. Corpectomy of Th10 and Th11 with an anterior fusion of Th9-12
was performed by neurosurgical intervention. Histopathological examination
of the vertebral body confirmed a necrotic granulomatous inflammation. No
acid-fast bacilli were seen by Ziehl-Neelsen staining, while Mycobacterium
tuberculosis culture was positive. Chest X-ray and computed tomography were
normal, induced sputum smear microscopy was negative for Mycobacterium
tuberculosis. The antituberculosis therapy lasted for 12 months. Conclusion.
Spinal tuberculosis is a differential diagnostic problem in relation to
pyogenic infections and metastatic bone tumors.