Treatment of tuberculosis in craniovertebral junction

To investigate the method of treating tuberculosis in the craniovertebral junction and its effectiveness. The clinical data of 18 patients with tuberculosis in the craniovertebral junction between July 2010 and January 2019 was analyzed retrospectively. There were 14 males and 4 females, aged 21 months to 75 years (median, 35 years). The disease duration ranged from 2 weeks to 60 months (median, 4 months), and the affected segment was C -C . Preoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) score was 6.7±1.5 and the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score was 16.1±1.8. The American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) grading system was applied to classify their neurological functions, according to which there were 6 cases of grade D and 12 cases of grade E. Among 18 patients, 4 patients underwent conservative treatment, 1 patient removed tuberculosis via transoral approach, 1 patient removed tuberculosis via posterior cervical approach, and 12 patients removed tuberculosis via transoral approach immediately aft