Disseminated cerebral and spinal tuberculomas: rare cause of triparesis

Abstract

Tuberculosis continues to remain a significant public health problem in developing nations, causing substantial morbidity and mortality. Central nervous system (CNS) tuberculosis is frequently observed in endemic zones of tuberculosis including India. The emergence of infections like HIV and malnutrition ruined the public health measures to restrain tuberculosis in developing countries. The incidence of intraspinal tuberculomas is reported to be 0.2–5% among CNS tuberculomas. To date, only a few cases have been reported of mixed intraspinal and intracranial tuberculomas. The clinical outcome in CNS disseminated tuberculomas is not well described in the literature. With this view, we report a case of a 25-year-old woman who presented with neck pain, triparesis and bladder incontinence, which finally proved to be a case of multiple cerebral and spinal tuberculomas. The antitubercular treatment with steroids and other supportive measures resulted in good recovery.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings of Intraspinal Tuberculoma in Children

“…Intraspinal tuberculosis is even rarer in clinical practice, mostly manifesting as tuberculous spinal meningitis and tuberculoma. Intraspinal tuberculoma can be further divided into intramedullary tuberculoma, intradural extramedullary tuberculoma and epidural tuberculoma based on the location, which is difficult to identify and diagnose in the early stage because of the insidious onset, non-specific clinical manifestations, and unfavorable sensitivity of laboratory examinations (7)(8)(9)(10)(11).…”