Pott disease

Pott disease or Pott's disease is a form of tuberculosis that occurs outside the lungs whereby disease is seen in the vertebrae. Tuberculosis can affect several tissues outside of the lungs including the spine, a kind of tuberculous arthritis of the intervertebral joints. The disease is named after Percivall Pott (1714–1788), a British surgeon. The lower thoracic and upper lumbar vertebrae are the areas of the spine most often affected. The formal name for the disease is tuberculous spondylitis and it is most commonly localized in the thoracic portion of the spine.