Mortality in hospitalized patients with tuberculous meningitis

Background: To evaluate the mortality in hospitalized patients with tuberculous meningitis and describe factors associated with an increased risk of mortality. Methods: Retrospective study of hospitalized patients with tuberculous meningitis between 2006 and 2015 in Peru performing a generalized linear regression to identify factors predictive of in-hospital mortality. Results: Of 263 patients, the median age was 35 years, 72.6% were men, 38% were positive for HIV upon admission, 24% had prior TB infections and 2.3% had prior MDR-TB infections. In-hospital mortality was 30.4% of all study patients with a final diagnosis of TBM. When multivariable analysis was applied, significant associations with in-hospital mortality were seen among patients with HIV (RR 2.06; Confidence Interval 95% (95% CI) 1.44-2.94), BMRC II (RR 1.78; 95% CI 1.07-2.97), BMRC III (RR 3.11; 95% CI 1.78-5.45) and positive CSF cultures (RR 1.95; 95% CI 1.39-2.74). Conclusions: In-hospital mortality is higher among patients with HIV infections, age over 40 years, positive CSF TB culture and BMRC stage II or III.