Culture proven cases of tuberculous meningitis: a 5 year retrospective analysis from Vellore.

Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is a common entity n children and also in adults with prediosposing factors such as AIDS, alcoholism, diabetes mellitus, malignancy and use of steroids. TBM often leads to considerable morbidity and mortality. We present here CSF culture positive cases of TBM reported between 2000 and 2004 from our institution. CSF specimens from patients suspected of TBM were processed for microscopy (stained by auramine O), culture [on Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium] and identification (by niacin test).