Acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis in a child with pulmonary tuberculosis.

ABSTRACT

Tuberculosis is a leading cause of mortality in children worldwide. One of the greatest challenges in its management is the difficulty of diagnosis as the manifestations are non-specific and often mimic other illnesses. Neurological infection occurs in approximately 1% of patients diagnosed with tuberculosis, and usually takes the form of tuberculous meningitis or tuberculoma. An 11-year-old girl who was diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a rare immunological manifestation of tuberculosis, is presented. She recovered completely after a course of high-dose systemic corticosteroids in addition to anti-tuberculosis treatment. Considering the immense burden of this infectious disease, recognition and understanding of the uncommon manifestations are important to enable appropriate and timely treatment.Abbreviations ADEM acute disseminated encephalomyelitis; ATT anti-tuberculosis therapy; CBNAAT cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test; CNS central nervous system; CSF cerebrospinal fluid; CT computed tomography; FLAIR fluid attenuated inversion recovery; IFN interferon; MRI magnetic resonance imaging; MTB Mycobacterium tuberculosis; TB tuberculosis; TNF tumour necrosis factor.