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Chinese Journal of Antituberculosis ›› 2018, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (9): 932-939.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-6621.2018.09.005

• Original Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The evaluation of tuberculous meningitis scoring system in the diagnose of tuberculous meningitis in children

Tong-qiang ZHANG1,Lin SUN2,Wei GUO1,Cai-li ZHOU1,Li-xin REN1,Zhuo FU1,Shu-jing LI1,A-dong SHEN2,(),Yong-sheng XU1,()   

  1. 1. Department of Respiration, the Children’s Hospital of Tianjin, Tianjin 300074, China;
  • Received:2018-07-02 Online:2018-09-10 Published:2018-10-17
  • Contact: A-dong SHEN,Yong-sheng XU E-mail:shenad16@hotmail.com;drxu69@gmail.com

Abstract:

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the value of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) scoring system in differentiating TBM from viral meningitis.Methods This was a retrospective analysis on 102 TBM children who admitted to the Department of Respiration, Children’s Hospital of Tianjin between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2017 (defined as the TBM group) and 125 children with viral encephalitis in the same period (defined as the viral encephalitis control group). TBM was diagnosed using a comprehensive scoring system that included clinical manifestations, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) test results, imaging findings, and other manifestations of pulmonary tuberculosis/extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The higher the score, the more TBM diagnosis was supported. TBM could be clinically diagnosed if the score was greater than or equal to 12. In this case-control study, the sensitivity and specificity of the scoring system in the diagnosis of TBM were analyzed. At the same time, the difference in test sensitivity among the scoring system and the tuberculin skin test (TST), the tests for release of interferon (IGRA) and the CSF etiology was compared.Results Among the children in the TBM group, 16 (15.69%, 16/102) of them were positive in the CSF etiology test and were confirmed as definite TBM by the scoring system. The score of the remaining 86 (84.31%, 86/102) patients with TBM was (13.25±2.22), which was higher than that of the children with viral encephalitis (3.79±2.48). The difference was statistically significant (t=29.97, P<0.001). Seventy-six of the 86 cases had a TBM score of ≥12, and thus were clinically diagnosed as TBM. The sensitivity of the TBM scoring system for the diagnosis of TBM was 90.20% (92/102) and the specificity was 100.00% (102/102). In the examination of CSF etiology, the sensitivity of anti-acid staining of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was 15.69% (16/102), the sensitivity of culture was 10.78% (11/102), and the sensitivity of DNA testing was 16.47% (14/85), which were significantly lower than that of TBM scoring system (χ 2=113.65, 128.66, 100.64, Ps<0.001). In the immunological examination, the sensitivity of TST test was 50.00% (51/102) and the specificity was 99.20% (124/125). IGRA had a sensitivity of 72.55% (74/102) and a specificity of 99.20% (124/125). The sensitivities were significantly lower than that of the TBM scoring system (χ 2=39.31, 10.48, Ps<0.001).Conclusion The TBM scoring system has a good diagnostic value for TBM, and its sensitivity is significantly higher than those of CSF acid stain, CSF culture, CSF DNA test, TST and IGRA detection methods.

Key words: Child, Tuberculosis, meningeal, Encephalitis, viral, Diagnosis, differential, Expert systems, Diagnostic techniques and procedures, Comparative study