Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Case Report

QuantiFERON: An early diagnostic tool for cerebral tuberculosis.

Masahiro Iguchi, M.D., Kenji Maruyama, M.D., Yukiko Tsutsumi, M.D., Shinichiro Uchiyama, M.D. and Makoto Iwata, M.D.

Department of Neurology, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine

Two cases (a 33-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man) were diagnosed as having cerebral tuberculosis. Case 1 was tuberculoma with miliary tuberculosis complicating cranial nerve palsies, and case 2 was tuberculous meningitis. Early diagnosis was difficult, because smear and PCR were negative. Culture was finally positive after several weeks. QuantiFERON were positive prior to the culture results in both cases. This reaction suggested tuberculous infection. QuantiFERON is useful for diagnosing cerebral tuberculosis at an early stage.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (447K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 48: 259|262, 2008)
key words: quantiFERON, cerebral tuberculosis, tuberculoma, meningitis, miliary tuberculosis

(Received: 6-Jul-07)