Severe tuberculous meningoencephalitis in a 30-year old woman with active systemic lupus erythematosus.

1997

Tuberculosis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromising diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). It often is difficult to distinguish between central nervous system (CNS) involvement and infectious complications in SLE. We report the case of a 30-year-old woman with active SLE and severe tuberculous meningoencephalitis. The diagnosis of tuberculous meningoencephalitis was confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid culture examination, which revealed mycobacterium tuberculosis and typical findings for tuberculous meningoencephalitis on magnetic resonance imaging. Despite treatment with isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, streptomycin, and prednisone, the patient…