[Tuberculous cranial pachymeningitis presenting with long-standing diffuse brain dysfunction]

Rinsho Shinkeigaku. 2011 Apr;51(4):267-70. doi: 10.5692/clinicalneurol.51.267.
[Article in Japanese]

Abstract

We report a 59-year-old immunocompetent man presenting with slowly progressive gait unsteadiness, dysarthria, and clumsiness in writing over 6 months. There were bilateral pyramidal signs, pseudobulbar palsy, and attention deficits. Cerebrospinal fluid examination showed mild mononuclear pleocytosis, and magnetic resonance imaging revealed pachymeningeal pattern of contrast enhancement beneath the calvarium and the posterior cranial fossa. Interferon-gamma release assay in whole blood after stimulation by specific tuberculosis antigens was positive and repeat polymerase chain reaction assay detected Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome in the cerebrospinal fluid. After combination therapy with anti-tuberculous agents and corticosteroids, the patient's pachymeningitis regressed. Tuberculous cranial pachymeningitis may present with chronic diffuse brain dysfunction without headache, fever, or cranial nerve dysfunction.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Antitubercular Agents / administration & dosage
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / etiology
  • Cerebrospinal Fluid / microbiology
  • Chronic Disease
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Dysarthria / etiology
  • Gait Disorders, Neurologic / etiology
  • Genome, Bacterial
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / genetics
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / isolation & purification
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Prednisolone / administration & dosage
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Tuberculosis, Meningeal / complications
  • Tuberculosis, Meningeal / diagnosis*
  • Tuberculosis, Meningeal / drug therapy
  • Tuberculosis, Meningeal / microbiology

Substances

  • Antitubercular Agents
  • Prednisolone