Risk factors and prognostic analysis of cranial nerve impairment in 121 patients with tuberculous meningitis / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the risk factors associated with cranial nerve impairment in patients with tuberculous meningitis.Methods A total of 121 patients with tuberculous meningitis who were admitted to Huashan Hospital from 2000 to 2011 were reviewed retrospectively.Demographic data (gender,age),course of disease,initial results of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) tests,occurrence of cranial nerve impairment and prognosis of these patients were collected.All the patients were followed up for at least 3 months,and for those with cranial nerve impairment,the minimum follow-up period was 1 year in order to judge the recovery of cranial nerve impairment.Multivariate analysis was performed to study the associated risk factors.Results Out of 121 patients,22 (18.2 ％)developed cranial nerve impairment.Nerves involved were abducens nerve,oculomotor nerve,optic nerve and auditory nerve,and impairment of single nerve occurred in 9 (40.9 ％),8 (36.4 ％),7(31.8％) and 1(4.5％) patient,respectively.Three cases had more than one group of cranial nerves involved,accounting for 13.6％ of the 22 patients with cranial nerve impairment.The incidence of conscious disturbance was significantly higher in patients with cranial nerve impairment than those without impairment (77 ％ vs 45 ％,P=0.020).Delay in diagnosis (OR =1.017,95 ％ CI1.001-1.033,P=0.040) and occurrence of conscious disturbance (OR =3.242,95 ％ CI1.142-9.205,P=0.027) were independent predictive factors of cranial nerve injury.During one-year follow-up,90.9％ of patients were fully recovered from cranial nerve impairment,with a median duration of 1 month (range 0.5-6.0 months).Conclusions Cranial nerve impairment is a common complication in patients with tuberculous meningitis.Delay in diagnosis and occurrence of conscious disturbance were independent predictive factors.Most cranial nerve impairment were reversible,and timely diagnosis and treatment are important ways to reduce complications.