The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in 29 CSF specimens from seven patients with tuberculous meningitis after the start of antituberculous chemotherapy. Ten of the 13 CSF specimens taken from these patients with an initial treatment of three weeks were positive for the PCR study. By contrast, only one of the other 16 CSF specimens taken from pat...

During a necropsy on a child with internal hydrocephalus due to tuberculous meningitis, concentric hypertrophy of the left ventricle of the heart was noticed. Since that observation further cadavera were examined in greater detail for evidence of hypertension. In six out of a consecutive series of 16 deaths from tuberculous meningitis treated with streptomycin at the Sheffield Children's Hospit...

The diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis remains an enigma despite recent technologic advances, such as computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and more recently, polymerase chain reaction of the cerebrospinal fluid. We report a patient with tuberculous meningitis who, when treated with appropriate antitubercular medications, made no progress in her recovery. Approximatel...

Since the introduction by Dandy of the technique of ventriculography (1918) and encephalography (1919) their use has become an indispensable part of neurological investigations. No mention was made of their use in tuberculous meningitis until 1927 when Eckstein reported on the examination of 20 children suffering from this disease. He found varying degrees of hydrocephalus and presumed that thi...

Toxic manifestations during isoniazid therapy are encountered in less than 5% of cases treated, and we have been able to trace little mention of them in children in the literature. The drug is now widely used in the treatment of tuberculosis and is universally prescribed as an adjuvant to streptomycin in tuberculous meningitis. The following case report concerns a child who developed pellagra l...

Methods: All children having CNS illness and undergoing CSF examination were included in the study and were grouped into two. Group I (Study Group) were subjects with the clinical evidence along with one or more of the laboratory or radiological evidence for tuberculous meningitis. Group II (Control Group) comprised of subjects who were diagnosed to have CNS illness other than tuberculous menin...

INTRODUCTION Clinically, increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) adenosine deaminase (ADA) level is an important diagnostic clue of tuberculous meningitis. However, increased CSF ADA level can be caused by other neurological diseases. CASE DESCRIPTION We report a case of a 67-year-old woman with cryptococcal meningitis presented with increased ADA level of the CSF. In parallel with her recovery, ...

Over the past 30 years, sequelae and mortality due to tuberculous meningitis have failed to decrease [1] . The most likely explanation is that the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis is generally made on the basis of clinical and CSF findings, which come late in the course of the disease. In some cases, however, and especially in pachymeningeal forms with atypical clinical features , neuroradio...

Paradoxical reactions in tuberculosis have been reported in patients with tuberculous meningitis and appear as intracranial tuberculomas within 14-270 days of starting antituberculous therapy (ATT). Paradoxical reactions are due to the immune response of the host to ATT. They are commonly seen in the intensive phase of chemotherapy. However, paradoxical reactions occurring after completion of A...

INTRODUCTION Meningitis is a major cause of mortality in southern Africa. We aimed to describe the aetiologies and frequencies of laboratory-confirmed fungal and bacterial meningitis among adults in a South African province with an 11% HIV prevalence, over 4 years. METHODS We conducted a retrospective, observational study of secondary laboratory data, extracted on all cerebrospinal fluid (CSF...