Özet:

Objective: Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most severe form of extra pulmonary tuberculosis. Bacteriological confirmative tests based on mycobacterial cultures or polymerase chain reaction tests are time-consuming process may not help diagnose every TBM patient. Therefore, practical and easily applicable scoring systems may be helpful in the early diagnosis of TBM and should be applied in the clinical follow-up process. Methods: The features of 20 patients with TBM were retrospectively evaluated according to the Thwaites’ diagnostic scoring indexes (TDSI) and Marais’ diagnostic scoring indexes (MDSI) beside a clinical prediction model (CPM) in this study. MDSI, CPM, viral, brucellar, and fungal etiologies were excluded by microscopic, serological, and molecular examinations of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood in all patients. Results: All patients were assessed for TBM according to TDSI (100%). Of these, 5 (25%) were considered probable TBM, and 15 (75%) were possible TBM, according to MDSI. The scores were greater than or equal to 6 in all the cases with TBM by CPM, 13 of which were scored as 9 points (65%). Conclusion: According to the outcomes of our study, the TDSI, MDSI, and CPM assessment methods are easily applicable and helpful techniques for rapid and accurate TBM diagnosis.

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