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Pott's disease



Pott's disease
Classification & external resources
ICD-10 A18.0, M49.0
ICD-9 015.0
MeSH D014399

  Pott's disease is a presentation of extrapulmonary tuberculosis that affects the spine, a kind of tuberculous arthritis of the intervertebral joints. More precisely it is called tuberculous spondylitis and the original name was formed after Percivall Pott (1714-1788), a London surgeon. It is most commonly localized in the thoracic portion of the spine.

Contents

Signs and symptoms

Diagnosis

Late complications

Therapy

Prevention

Controlling the spread of tuberculosis infection can prevent tuberculous spondylitis and arthritis. Patients who have a positive PPD test (but not active tuberculosis) may decrease their risk by properly taking medicines to prevent tuberculosis. To effectively treat tuberculosis, it is crucial that patients take their medications exactly as prescribed.

Cultural references

The fictional Hunchback of Notre Dame had a gibbous deformity (humpback) that is thought to have been caused by tuberculosis. Furthermore, Jocelin, the Dean who wanted a spire on his cathedral in William Golding's "The Spire" probably suffered and died as a result of this disease. The 18th-century English poet Alexander Pope suffered from Pott's disease.

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pott's_disease". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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