Although intracerebral tuberculomas are common in countries where tuberculosis is still endemic, miliary tuberculosis with involvement of the central nervous system is exceptionally rare. We report two cases of pulmonary miliary tuberculosis with multiple intracerebral tuberculomas.
Intracranial tuberculoma is a rare manifestation of tuberculosis involving the central nervous system. The involvement of the ventricular system is extremely uncommon. We describe a young woman with bilateral papilledema secondary to intraventricular tuberculoma with hydrocephalus. She was treated with anti-tuberculosis therapy and intravenous dexamethasone. Her visual acuity deteriorated after one month of treatment. We provide a literature review of this uncommon ocular sequelae.
Cerebral tuberculosis is the most severe type of extrapulmonary disease that is in developing countries highly predominant in children. Meningeal tuberculosis is the most common form and usually begins with respiratory infection followed by early haematogenous dissemination to extrapulmonary sites involving the brain. In comparison with the lung, Mycobacterium tuberculosis induces a very different immune response when infect the central nervous system. Herein, we review several aspects of the pathogenesis and immune response in pulmonary and cerebral tuberculosis in humans and experimental models and discuss the implications of this response in the cerebral infection outcome.
A 31-year-old Malaysian man was presented with an episode of seizures by the roadside, after having been recently diagnosed as HIV positive accompanied with miliary tuberculosis. On physical examination, he was oriented to person, but not to time or place. There was no neck stiffness or papilloedema. The other systemic examination was unremarkable. Chest examination revealed crepitations at the upper zone of the right lung. After diagnosis suspicion, the case was confirmed as toxoplasma encephalitis by MRI and serological tests. Patient was treated with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole 480-2400 mg/day with folinic acid supplement for 60 days. Two months later, a repeat brain MRI showed resolution of the cerebral lesions.