Tuberculous Meningitis

Question: What is Tuberculous meningitis & Hydrocephalus? What is Tuberculous meningitis & Hydrocephalus?

Answer: I only know TB is very contagious. However I do know that Hydrocephalus is "water on the brain". One of my children has it.

Question: at what earliest age tuberculous meningitis is known to occur?

Answer: i dont think theres an age limit - but they do have the shot for it now so make sure you get it.

Question: Cause of “Tuberculous meningitis & Hydrocephalus“? Hello, Anyone please tell me the reason or Cause of “Tuberculous meningitis & Hydrocephalus“ Thanks, ~Nitesh duanitesh@yahoo.com

Answer: Fever and headache are the cardinal features. Confusion is a late feature and coma bears a poor prognosis. Meningism is absent in a fifth of patients with TB meningitis. Patients may also have focal neurological deficits. Diagnosis of TB meningitis is made by analysing CSF collected by lumbar puncture. When collecting CSF for suspected TB meningitis, a minimum of 1ml of fluid should be taken (preferably 5 to 10ml).The CSF usually has a high protein, low glucose and a raised number of lymphocytes. Acid-fast bacilli are sometimes seen on a CSF smear, but more commonly, M. tuberculosis is grown in culture. A spiderweb clot in the collected CSF is characteristic of TB meningitis, but is a rare finding. The treatment of TB meningitis is isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol for two months, followed by isoniazid and rifampicin alone for a further ten months. Steroids are always used in the first six weeks of treatment

Question: To doctors : tuberculous meningitis? why protein level decrease in the CSF examination?

Answer: it's normal to low. because of it's type of reaction doesn't cause much of vascular leakage as compared to other bacterial meningitis.

Question: Where can I find a free full artical "Does BCG Vaccine prevent Tuberculous Meningitis? by N. Thilothamma? The article was written in The Archives of Disease Childhood, 74 (1996), 144-147. Where can i find the full text of this article for free?

Answer: I think I found it. Go to http://adc.bmjjournals.com. Find the word "Browse" and directly underneath it you will see The Archives of Disease in Childhood. Click on that. At the next screen, at the upper right area, you can enter information such as Author, etc. Type in the volume number, which is 74 and the page number 144. Now you can chose the full article or an abstract.

Question: Is tuberculous/tubercular meningitis infectious?

Answer: yes, i believe it is

Question: I was treated for TBM with obstructive hydrocephalus at my age 21 [yr:1995], will it make issue for US Visa? I was treated with VP shunt and other medication for Tuberculous meningitis with obstructive hydrocephalus at my age 21 [yr:1995], will it make any issue to get visa for US,UK, etc., Do we need to get any special certificate from doctor to get Visa?

Answer: It depends on the type of visa. For a non-immigrant visa (student, tourist, business etc.): no. For an immigrant visa (green card) you have to have a medical exam. If you are applying for immigration, make copies of your file so that you can prove that you have been successfuly treated.

Question: Cause of “Tuberculous meningitis & Hydrocephalus“? Hello, Anyone please tell me the reason or Cause of “Tuberculous meningitis & Hydrocephalus“ Thanks, ~Nitesh duanitesh@yahoo.com

Answer: Font SizeA A A Definition of Tuberculous meningitis Tuberculous meningitis: Meningitis due to tuberculosis. Tuberculous meningitis is the most severe form of tuberculosis. It causes severe neurologic deficits or death in more than half of cases. The pattern of tuberculous meningitis in the population is different in different areas of the world. In areas with much tuberculosis, tuberculous meningitis usually affects young children. It develops typically 3 to 6 months after the primary tuberculosis infection. By contrast, in areas with less tuberculosis, tuberculous meningitis tends to strike adults. It may follow a primary infection but, more frequently, is due to reactivation of an old focus of tuberculosis that had been dormant, sometimes for many years. Tuberculois meningitis begins insidiously with a gradual fluctuating fever, fatigue, weight loss, behavior changes, headache, and vomiting. This early phase is followed by neurologic deficits, loss of consciousness, or convulsions. A dense gelatinous exudate (outpouring) forms and envelops the brain arteries and cranial nerves. It creates a bottleneck in the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid, which leads to hydrocephalus. The development of arteritis and infarctions of the brain can cause hemiplegia or quadriplegia. A high index of suspicion is essential to diagnose the disease because early diagnosis is the key to a satisfactory outcome. If tuberculous meningitis is seriously suspected, treatment should start immediately. Treatment involves chemotherapy to control and eradicate the infection, management of hydrocephalus and elevated intracranial pressure, and immunomodulation with corticosteroids (cortisone-like drugs such as prednisone). Hydrocephalus is a term derived from the Greek words "hydro" meaning water, and "cephalus" meaning head, and this condition is sometimes known as "water on the brain". People with this condition have abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricles, or cavities, of the brain. This may cause increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and progressive enlargement of the head, convulsion, and mental disability. Hydrocephalus is usually due to blockage of CSF outflow in the ventricles or in the subarachnoid space over the brain. In a normal healthy person, CSF continuously circulates through the brain and its ventricles and the spinal cord and is continuously drained away into the circulatory system. In a hydrocephalic situation, the fluid accumulates in the ventricles, and the skull may become enlarged because of the great volume of fluid pressing against the brain and skull. Alternatively, the condition may result from an overproduction of the CSF fluid, from a congenital malformation blocking normal drainage of the fluid, or from complications of head injuries or infections. Infants and young children with hydrocephalus typically have abnormally large heads, because the pressure of the fluid causes the individual skull bones — which have yet to fuse — to bulge outward at their juncture points. Compression of the brain by the accumulating fluid eventually may cause convulsions and mental retardation. Hydrocephalus occurs in about one out of every 500 live birthsand was routinely fatal until surgical techniques for shunting the excess fluid out of the central nervous system and into the blood or abdomen were developed. Usually, hydrocephalus need not cause any intellectual impairment if recognized and properly treated. A massive degree of hydrocephalus rarely exists in normally functioning people, though such a rarity may occur if onset is gradual rather than sudden.