Tuberculous meningitis at tertiary care unit

Introduction: tuberculous meningitis is not an uncommon cause of prolonged morbidity and mortality in our set up. objective of the study: to describe our experiences in the presentation,diagnostic rigor and outcome of the disease in our setup. methods and material: the record of 100 cases of tuberculous meningitis admitting from 1st february 2013 to 31st march 2014 in pediatric unit i,bahawal victoria hospital bahawalpur was reviewed. result: there were 100 cases,out of which 59% were male. the mean ± sd age of presentation was 36.91 ± 32.23 months. there were only children 20% who were above 5 years of age. the contact was positive in 24% cases. 31% were having bcg scar mark. 94% cases were admitted in stage iii while only 6% in stage ii. the mean ± sd duration of preadmission symptoms was 14.77 ± 6.74 days. the initial chest radiograph was abnormal in 40% cases. cranial ct showed hydrocephalus in 93% and multiple infarctions in 45% cases,tuberculoma in 2% and basilar enhancement in 95% cases. the mean ± sd csf white blood cell count (mm3) at time of presentation was 246.8 ± 174.2. predominant cells were lymphocytes in 93% while polymorph nuclear leukocytes in 7% of the cases. the mean ± sd csf protein (mg/dl) at time of presentation was 153.53 ± 65.39 and that of glucose (mg/dl) 31.47 ± 13.11. the case fatality during hospital stay was 25%. conclusion: tuberculous meningitis is an important childhood illness with high mortality and morbidity having non specific signs and symptoms. © 2016,pakistan pediatric journal. all rights reserved.