[The course and outcome of tuberculous meningoencephalomyelitis]

Nineteen patients aged 8 months to 62 years suffering from tuberculous meningoencephalomyelitis were followed up from 1968 to 1987. The given pattern of tuberculous meningitis was established to occur mostly in adults. In children and adolescents the disease onset was mostly acute or subacute, whereas in adults, it was progressive. It was also established that as a rule children and adolescents manifested a descending pattern of meningoencephalomyelitis whereas adults an ascending one. The disease was marked by clinical polymorphism, creating certain difficulties for early diagnosis. Tuberculous meningoencephalomyelitis still remains the most rarely occurring and severe disease involving the meninges and central nervous system. It is not infrequently associated with the development of irreversible complications, thus being a cause of disability and high enough lethality.