RATIONALE Mustard gas primarily affects the eyes, skin, and particularly the respiratory tract. Tracheobronchomalacia (TBM) and air trapping are often observed in high-resolution computerized tomography (HRCT) scans of the chest of mustard gas-exposed patients. OBJECTIVES To examine the frequency and severity of TBM in a group of Iranian wartime mustard gas-exposed victims, and to investigate...

Background: Microbiological confirmation of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) remains problematic. We assessed the diagnostic performance of a modified Ziehl-Neelsen (MZN) staining method that showed promise in earlier studies. Methods: Patients evaluated for TBM in Shaanxi province, China, were prospectively enrolled from May, 2011 to April, 2013. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens were evaluated ...

BACKGROUND The rapid diagnosis of Tubercular meningitis (TBM) is fundamental to clinical outcome. The key to diagnosis lies in Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and radiological investigations. There are numerous lacunae in the confirmation of diagnosis of TBM from CSF. PURPOSE The aim of present study was to compare the efficacy of CSF adenosine deaminase (ADA) level assays and Polymerase c...

BACKGROUND Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most common form of neurotuberculosis and the fifth most common form of extrapulmonary TB. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are the cornerstones of effective disease management. The accurate diagnosis of TBM poses a challenge due to an extensive differential diagnosis, low bacterial load and paucity of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) especially in ch...

Using a monoclonal anti-tubular basement membrane antibody (alpha TBM-Ab) affinity column, we isolated from collagenase-solubilized human renal tissue (HSRTA) a predominantly 48,000-mol-wt moiety (H3M-1) which is selectively recognized by antisera from two patients with alpha TBM-Ab-associated interstitial nephritis (alpha TBM disease). Whereas both antisera had alpha TBM-Ab titers of 1:64-1:12...

To gain a better understanding of the immunopathogenesis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and identify potential diagnostic biomarkers that may discriminate TBM from other HIV-1-associated meningitides, we assessed HIV-1 viral load levels, drug resistance patterns in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-experienced patients with persistent viremia and soluble immunological analytes in peripheral blood a...

BACKGROUND: Bacteriological confirmation of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is problematic and rarely guides clinical management. A uniform TBM case-definition has been proposed for research purposes, but its diagnostic accuracy in a clinical setting has not been evaluated. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled patients with meningitis confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid analysis aged 3 months to 13 yea...

INTRODUCTION Abnormalities on CT imaging may contribute to the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). Recently, an expert consensus case definition (CCD) and set of imaging criteria for diagnosing basal meningeal enhancement (BME) have been proposed. This study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and reliability of these in a prospective cohort of adult meningitis patients. MET...

OBJECTIVE Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Cryptococcus neoformans are major causes of meningitis in HIV-1-infected patients. Identifying differences in the inflammatory profiles of HIV-1-associated tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and cryptococcal meningitis may inform differences in immunopathogenic mechanisms in these diseases. In this study we compared the clinical and inflammatory features of HI...

Several nucleic acid-based amplification tests are available for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but few data are available on their use in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). We performed a prospective study to assess the Roche AMPLICOR Mycobacterium tuberculosis PCR test (TB AMPLICOR) for use in the diagnosis of TBM and compared it with direct Ziehl-Neelsen staining of...