Extraosseous epidural tuberculoma: case report and review

Extraosseous epidural tuberculoma has been reported infrequently, in spite of the widespread availability in recent years of computerized axial tomography and magnetic resonance imaging that can detect bony involvement not apparent on roentgenography with plain films. Thirty-two cases of extraosseous epidural tuberculoma have been reported in the English-language literature; however, only seven of these were radiologically and microbiologically confirmed. The single case from North America was reported over 30 years ago. We describe a patient with a spinal epidural mass due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis that was not associated with bony involvement and review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, presentation, and outcome of the previously reported cases.