Tuberculous meningitis in adult patients of a Mexican neurological referral center: A-six-year retrospective cohort study

Abstract Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) remains as an important concern of public health worldwide because the high prevalence and severe sequelae. Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most lethal and disabling form. Aim To describe the clinical, laboratory, and neuroimaging characteristics of TBM on admission at neurological center in Mexico City. Methods Retrospective cohort study at the third level neurological center from 2010 to 2016. Clinical follow-up was evaluated at hospital discharge, three months, and one-year either due to lack of follow-up or mortality, during the follow-up the adverse events were registered. Results One-hundred and six patients were included, 74 (69.8%) males and 32 (30.2%) females. From these 31 (29.2%) were HIV-positive. The median age was 35.5 (IQR:28-51). Pulmonary TB was found in 25% of the population. Alcoholism was observed in a half of the patients while diabetes in 15%, the latter being significant (p=0.04). Abnormalities in neuroimaging were significant among our population (p=0.003). Only one-third of the population had a positive Lowenstein-Jensen culture. There were no differences in clinical outcomes between HIV positive and non-HIV patients. Conclusion Our study shows data to those described in the literature. The initiation of empirical treatment in all patients with a high clinical suspicion of tuberculosis mandatory to try to avoid severe neurological sequels.