Diagnosis and treatment of tuberculous meningitis

Tuberculosis meningitis is a disease of the nervous system caused by tuberculosis bacteria. This is a rare disease (accounting for about 5%) but the most dangerous when it can appear at any age. So is tuberculous meningitis curable? You can follow this article to find the answer.

Tuberculosis meningitis occurs when Mycobacterium tuberculosis travels through the bloodstream to attack the meninges, causing infection. This is a particularly dangerous disease, especially in the period when there is no drug to treat tuberculosis of the meninges, those who are still alive will also experience serious complications such as vegetative status, epilepsy, hemiplegia, mental retardation, etc. ..
TB bacteria, after entering the patient's body, will not immediately act, but hide in the body. When the patient's body is weakened, the resistance is reduced, the TB bacteria will grow strongly and attack other organs. At this point, the signs of TB appear clearly.
Depending on the duration of the disease, the symptoms of tuberculous meningitis will vary. The most recognizable typical example is:
Prolonged high fever, chills. Headache that is intermittent or continuous. Easily excitable, sensitive to sound and light. Digestive disorders such as constipation, diarrhea, defecation and urinary incontinence. Joint pain, spine. Nerve paralysis, inability to control the body. Consciousness and mental disturbances are mild.

To diagnose tuberculous meningitis, the first step is to check your general health through basic signs, such as tachycardia, fever, stiff neck,... Then, the doctor will puncture the brain. marrow to take one or more samples for testing. Depending on the color of the spinal fluid, the doctor determines the stage of the disease. Specifically, if the clear fluid is in the early stage, the color is yellow or cloudy, indicating that the disease has progressed to the late stage.
Based on the clinical symptoms, the characteristics of the cerebrospinal fluid,... the doctor can find signs of tuberculous meningitis when using the method of culture, endoscopic staining or LED fluorescent dye.
Be more careful or if it is still difficult to identify tuberculous meningitis, the patient can do other tests such as brain biopsy, MRI and CT scan of the brain, X-ray,...

Tuberculosis meningitis is especially dangerous when detected and treated late. However, there are still methods and drugs to treat tuberculous meningitis if the disease is detected in the early stages.
There are 4 drugs commonly used to fight TB meningococcal bacteria and treat infections, they are:
Isoniazid. Rifampin. Pyrazinamide. Ethambutol. For the treatment of tuberculous meningitis, the same drugs can be used, except Ethambutol because it is not able to penetrate the brain lining. Doctors can replace drugs with fluoroquinolone antibiotics such as moxifloxacin or levofloxacin to treat. In addition, systemic steroid use can reduce the complications of meningitis.
Tuberculosis meningococcal disease is currently still being treated according to the regimen of pulmonary tuberculosis. In the first phase, it is necessary to focus on aggressive treatment, followed by continuous drug therapy. Therefore, is tuberculous meningitis curable? It depends on the severity of the disease when detecting the disease as well as the health status, the ability to absorb drugs or the ability of the bacteria to develop drug resistance.

Currently, the world has not yet created a vaccine against tuberculous meningitis. Even with the BCG TB vaccine, there are still many cases of tuberculous meningitis. This is also a disease that can recur many times even after a complete cure. Therefore, patients who have had other forms of tuberculosis such as pulmonary tuberculosis, lymph node tuberculosis, ... or brain diseases must be especially careful and follow the treatment instructions of the doctor.
The way to reduce the chance of getting tuberculous meningitis today is to improve everyone's health. It is necessary to have adequate nutrition, not to work too hard because when the body is weakened, it will easily create conditions for TB bacteria to attack the brain.
In summary, tuberculous meningitis is very dangerous but can be cured if treated promptly, when the patient has not shown signs of severe inflammation. Therefore, the most effective way to prevent and treat the disease is to have regular health checks, especially for patients who have been infected with tuberculous meningitis.
Currently, Vinmec International General Hospital is the leading effective treatment facility for diseases, including tuberculous meningitis. When treating at Vinmec, customers will feel satisfied, because:
The hospital is fully equipped with modern equipment, the most advanced machines today such as: G.E 3.0 MRI machine, CT SCAN Toshiba 640 slices, cerebral angiogram, MRA and CTA... Doctors at Vinmec can easily detect, diagnose, and plan treatment thanks to the clear and detailed images obtained. . Not only tuberculous meningitis, but also effectively applied to other brain, lung and spine diseases such as: Brain degeneration, traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular disease, cerebral aneurysm... Treated and recover in modern rooms, fully equipped with international standards, helping patients feel comfortable, maximum support for the treatment process.