Evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.

The detection of immunoglobulin G antibody in the CSF to purified protein derivative in patients with tuberculous meningitis and non-tuberculous meningitis patients by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed at the Department of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital Medical School from 1986 to 1988. Seventeen proven tuberculous meningitis patients showed 14 positive results. This yielded the sensitivity of the test as 82.4 per cent only nine of the thirty non-tuberculous meningitis patients showed a positive result. Thus demonstrating the specificity of the test as 70.0 per cent. The ELISA test for detecting the antibody of tuberculosis in the CSF is a rather sensitive test for diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis but it is not so specific for the condition.