Intraspinal and Intracranial Neurotuberculosis, Clinical and Imaging Characteristics and Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients: A Cohort Study (2000-2022).

Neurotuberculosis (neuroTB) is a devastating disease, and is difficult to diagnose. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical and imaging characteristics, and outcomes of a retrospective cohort (2000-2022) of hospitalized patients diagnosed with intraspinal and intracranial neuroTB. This work was designed through clinical, laboratory and imaging findings. Variables included: demographic data, history of tuberculosis, neurological complications, comorbidities and outcomes. Morbi-mortality risk factors were identified by univariate analysis. The cohort included: 103 patients with intraspinal and 82 with intracranial neuroTB. During the study period, in-hospital mortality of 3% for intraspinal and 29.6% for intracranial neuroTB was estimated. Motor deficit was found in all patients with intraspinal neuroTB. Risk factors for the unfavorable outcome of patients with intraspinal neuroTB were: age ≥ 40 years, diabetes mellitus (DM), diagnostic delay, kyphosis and spondylodiscitis ≥ 3 levels of involvement. Among the patients with intracranial neuroTB, 79/82 (96.3%) had meningitis and 22 patients had HIV infection (10 of them died). Risk factors for mortality from intracranial neuroTB were: HIV infection, hydrocephalus, stroke, lymphopenia and disseminated and gastrointestinal TB. Patients with intraspinal neuroTB had a significant number of destroyed vertebrae that determined their neurological deficit status. The mortality burden in intracranial neuroTB was conditioned by HIV infection and renal transplantation patients.

Parinaud syndrome due to cofirmed neurotuberculosis in a lupus eritematosis systemic patient.

INTRODUCTION: This article aims to describe a patient with Parinaud syndrome due to neurotuberculosis confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid analysis. CASE REPORT: Initially, patient sought medical care, performed a chest x-ray and later a chest CT scan, with a probable diagnosis of miliary tuberculosis. In addition, she presented binocular diplopia worse at right lateral gaze, paresis of vertical gaze, light near-dissociation and convergent retraction nystagmus and presence of mycobacterium tuberculosis on PCR Xpert MTB/RIF. The treatment of miliary tuberculosis was interrupted due to pharmacodermia, but after diagnosis of neurotuberculosis, it was restarted with isoniazid, pyrazinamide and ethambutol with partial visual symptoms improvement. DISCUSSION: This case demonstrates the importance of pursuing diagnosis through more accurate techniques, especially in a patient with previous treatment pharmacoderma, whose absence of proper diagnosis and treatment would be extremely deleterious.

Neurotuberculosis: Hallazgos intracraneanos en RM / Neurotuberculosis: Intracranial MRI findings

Objetivos. Mostrar nuestra casuística de pacientes con diagnóstico de tuberculosis intracraneana y describir los diferentes tipos de lesiones documentadas en Resonancia Magnética (RM) que caracterizan a esta entidad. Materiales y Métodos. Para el presente trabajo fueron seleccionados, de forma retrospectiva, 20 pacientes con hallazgos positivos de tuberculosis intracraneana. Doce eran de sexo masculino y 8 de sexo femenino, con un rango etario de 8 meses a 49 años de edad (edad media: 21 años). El diagnóstico clínico fue realizado con punción lumbar y cultivo de LCR. Once pacientes presentaron serología positiva para VIH. Las RM fueron realizadas en resonadores de 0.5T y 1.5T, complementadas en dos casos con Tomografía Computada (TC) de cerebro. A dos pacientes se les realizó difusión (DWI) y a un paciente espectroscopía. Resultados. Del total de pacientes (n=20), 14 presentaron compromiso subaracnoideo en la convexidad y 13 compromiso subaracnoideo cisternal basal (afectación leptomeníngea). En 13 se observaron tuberculomas y 11 presentaron angeítis de grandes vasos; mientras que 7 tuvieron angeítis de pequeños vasos, 7 hidrocefalia, 6 infartos parenquimatosos y 1 afectación paquimeníngea. Quince pacientes tenían lesiones combinadas. Conclusión. La localización más frecuente de neurotuberculosis en esta serie fue meníngea con compromiso leptomeníngeo (14 pacientes con afectación subaracnoidea, seguido de afectación cisternal en 13 pacientes) y sólo en un caso fue paquimeníngea. La manifestación parenquimatosa más frecuente fue el tuberculoma (granulomas tuberculosos) con 13 casos. De estos, 5 presentaron un patrón miliar y sólo uno comportamiento pseudotumoral.(AU)

Purposes. To report our case series of patients with a diagnosis of intracranial tuberculosis and to describe the different types of lesions characterizing this entity on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods. For the present study, we retrospectively selected 20 patients with positive MRI findings of intracranial tuberculosis. Twelve of them were males and 8 were females, with an age range of between 8 months and 49 years (mean age: 21years). Clinical diagnosis was obtained by lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture. Eleven patients presented positive HIV serology. MRIs were performed using 0.5T and 1.5 T scanners and computed tomography (CT) of the brain was also performed in two patients. Diffusion-weighted technique was performed in two patients and spectroscopy in one patient. Results. Of the total patients studied (n=20), 14 presented convexity subarachnoid involvement and 13 subarachnoid basal cystern involvement (leptomeningeal involvement), 13 presented tuberculomas, 11 large-vessel angiitis, 7 smallvessel angiitis, 7 hydrocephalia, 6 parenchymatous infarction and one pachymeningeal involvement. Combined lesions were observed in 15 patients. Conclusion. The most frequent location of neurotuberculosis in this series was meningeal with leptomeningeal involvement (14 patients with subarachnoid involvement, followed by cysternal involvement in 13 patients), and only one patient had pachymeningeal involvement. The most frequent parenchymatous finding of tuberculosis was tuberculoma in 13 patients, 5 with a miliary pattern and only one with pseudo-tumoral behavior.(AU)