[TNF-alpha in prognosis of a recovery of the spinal marrow function in patients with spinal tuberculosis]

The TNF-alpha significance in forecasting a degree of recovering of the spinal marrow functions was studied in complicated courses of tuberculous spondylitis in 37 patients with generalized and multiple tuberculosis. The TNF-alpha level in the cerebrospinal fluid was found to be related with a severity of inflammation and of neurological disorders, as well as with a degree of spinal marrow compression and with a speed of regression of postoperative disorders in the spinal marrow. The initial TNF-alpha concentration of > or = 400 pg/ml was indicative of a possibility to ensure a fast regression of postoperative disorders in the spinal marrow, while no complete recovery of spinal-marrow functions was observed in cases the TNF-alpha was < 400 pg/ml.