Abstract
Most deaths in tuberculous meningitis occur in the early part of the illness. We assessed the determinants of early deaths, occurring within 2 months of intensive therapy. We prospectively included consecutive newly diagnosed adults with HIV-negative tuberculous meningitis. Patients were given WHO-recommended antituberculosis treatment and were followed up for 9 months. We enrolled 152 patients. A total of 26 deaths were recorded during 2 months. The logistic regression analysis revealed that papilledema (P = 0.029, odds ratio (OR) = 4.8 [1.2-19.8]), increasing age (P = 0.001, OR = 1.07 [1.03-1.1]), stage-III disease (Glasgow coma scale score ≤ 10; P = 0.01, OR = 4.2 [1.4-12.3]), and hydrocephalus (P = 0.003, OR = 8.4 [2.1-33.6]) were independently associated with death. In addition, cerebral infarcts (P = 0.012, OR = 5.6 [1.5-21.3]), paraparesis (P = 0.004, OR = 8.8 [2.02-38.1]), and age (P = 0.005, OR = 1.05 [1.02-1.09]) were associated with poor functional outcome. In conclusion, disease severity predicts early deaths in tuberculous meningitis.