[A case of chronic renal failure complicated with tuberculous meningitis successfully diagnosed by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR)]

A 44 year-old woman was diagnosed as having chronic renal failure due to rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) from one year earlier. She has been managed with steroid therapy and hemodialysis. The patient was admitted to our hospital because of fever and sudden disturbance of consciousness with generalized convulsion on October 30, 2003. She showed mild meningeal irritation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination demonstrated a cell count of 60/microl, protein level of 70 mg/dl, glucose level of 52 mg/dl, and chloride (Cl) level of 116 mEq/l. Both the CSF culture for Mycobacterium (M.) tuberculosis and the conventional single polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for M. tuberculosis DNA in CSF were negative results on admission. In contrast, nested PCR of preserved CSF samples obtained at admission demonstrated positive results. We diagnosed her conditions as tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and administered a total of 3 anti-tuberculosis agents over a period of about 2 months. Her clinical condition and CSF examinations improved immediately in response to anti-tuberculosis treatment. Serial CSF cultures for M. tuberculosis and the serial single PCRs for M. tuberculosis DNA in CSF were all negative during the course of anti-tuberculosis treatment. However, serial nested PCR results gradually converted from positive to negative, correlating with the improvement in clinical conditions during the course of anti-tuberculosis treatment. Therefore, nested PCRs were much more useful for the rapid and accurate diagnosis of TBM and for assessment of the clinical course and anti-tuberculosis treatment response of TBM than conventional CSF cultures and single PCRs. To the best of our knowledge, there have been few previous reports of diachronic study in which the serial nested PCR was used to test CSF samples obtained earlier in the clinical course of TBM. In conclusion, our findings suggest that nested PCR for M. tuberculosis DNA in CSF was highly useful not only for rapid and accurate diagnosis of TBM, but also for assessment of the antituberculous treatment response in cases highly suspected of TBM despite negative results on conventional cultures and single PCRs.