Pott's Disease

Pott's disease is a deformity of the spine which was named after an English surgeon in the 1800s named Percival Pott. The disease is caused by tuberculosis when the rod-shaped bacterium that causes tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, infects the vertibrae of the spinal cord. The Mosby Medical Encyclopedia defines tuberculous spondylitis as "a rare, serious form of tuberculosis caused by the invasion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis into the spinal vertebrae. The disk between the vertebrae may be destroyed, causing the collapse and wedging of affected vertebrae and the shortening and angling of the spine," (1). The disease more often attacks the upper vertebrae and it can attack the vertebrae at several locations with normal vertebrae in between. When the infection cuts into vertebrae abscesses may result from the pus-filled sores. In some instances the forcer of these abscesses may block the flow of blood to the spinal cord, or if blockages occur in the cervical region, the food or wind pipe or both may become blocked.

Surgical treatment is the most commonly utilized one in modern times. In the past braces and other devices were used to help correct the problem, but they did not attack the cause of it. Surgery does not attack the cause either, but it seems, when combined with pharmaceuticals, to offer total recovery in some cases. One boy that was 13 developed Pott's Disease seven years after he underwent a one-year t

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