STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. PURPOSE: To report the prevalence of patients with multidrug-resistant (MDR) tubercular spondylodiscitis and their outcomes. Additionally, to assess the role of Xpert MTB/RIF assay in early detection of MDR tuberculosis. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: MDR tuberculosis is increasing globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has strongly recommended Xpert MTB/RIF assay for early detection of tuberculosis. METHODS: From 2006 to 2015, a retrospective study was conducted on patients treated for MDR tuberculosis of the spine. Only patients whose diagnosis was confirmed using either culture and/or the Xpert MTB/RIF assay were included. Diagnostic method, treatment regimen, time taken to initiate second-line antituberculosis treatment (ATT), drug-related complications, and cost of medications were analyzed. All patients with MDR were treated according to the WHO recommendations for 2 years. The outcome parameters analyzed included clinical, biochemical, and radiological criteria to assess healing status. RESULTS: From 2006 to 2015, a total of 730 patients were treated for tubercular spondylodiscitis. Of those, 36 had MDR tubercular spondylitis (prevalence, 4.9%), and three had extremely drug resistant tubercular spondylitis (prevalence, 0.4%). In this study, 30 patients, with a mean age of 29 years and a mean post-treatment follow-up of 24 months, were enrolled. The majority (77%) had secondary MDR, 17 (56%) underwent surgery, and 26 (87%) completed treatment for 2 years and were healed. Drug-related complications (33%) included ototoxicity, hypothyroidism, and hyperpigmentation of the skin. The average time taken for initiation of second line ATT for MDR patients with Xpert MTB/RIF assay as the diagnostic tool was 18 days, when compared to patients for whom the assay was not available which was 243 days. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of MDR tubercular spondylodiscitis was 4.9%. In total, 87% of patients were healed with adequate treatment. The sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay to detect MDR was 100% and 92.3%, respectively.
Diagnosis ; Discitis ; Early Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperpigmentation ; Hypothyroidism ; Methods ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Skin ; Spine ; Spondylitis ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant ; World Health Organization

This a case report on a rare case of denial of visual perception termed as inverse Anton syndrome. It is a rare extension of perception without awareness in which, specific brain lesions affected a patient’s visual abilities. A 66-year-old Malay gentleman presented with sudden onset of the painless bilateral total loss of vision with expressive aphasia for 2 days. His visual acuity was 6/12 in the right eye and 6/48 in the left eye. However, he was insistent that he could not see but did not request any form of assistance for his blindness. He also had neurological signs suggestive of parietal lobe syndrome. Brain imaging showed subacute left middle cerebral artery territorial infarct with no occipital lobe involvement. The denial of visual perception by this patient may be explained by a disconnection of parietal lobe attentional systems from visual perception