[A case of disseminated bone tuberculosis in an aged patient]

It is described the case of a 75-year-old woman admitted to the hospital for physical degeneration, serious decline in mental status and swelling in the pre-sternal region. The diagnosis of a severe, destructive and infrequent form of disseminated bone tuberculosis was made. This case underscores the risk of tuberculosis to which the elderly, in particular, are subject. Moreover, the lack of specificity of symptoms and laboratory findings and the presence of concomitant chronic pathologies can mask the clinical picture, rendering the hypothesis of tuberculosis highly improbable. Computed tomography studies of this patient also disclosed the seldom encountered finding of severe bone destruction, particularly of the vertebrae and sternum, caused by infiltration of caseating granulomas.