Relationship between neutrophil count in cerebrospinal fluid and cerebral infarct appearance in head MRI on tuberculous meningitis patients.

Objectives: To determine the relationship between neutrophils count in cerebrospinal fluid and cerebral infarction in head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on patients with tuberculous meningitis. Methods: A diagnostic study was done on patients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) who underwent head MRI examination and cerebrospinal fluid analysis at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital from January 2015 to September 2016. TBM was diagnosed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolation from cerebrospinal fluid. Cut-off value of neutrophil count was determined using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. Conformity test was done using Kappa test. Results: Thirty seven subjects were recruited in this study. Higher neutrophil count in CSF was observed on subjects with cerebral infarction (p < 0.05). Cut-off value of neutrophil count in CSF was determined as > 41 %. There was a moderate conformity between higher neutrophil count in CSF and cerebral infarction appearance in MRI (p < 0.05, Kappa score 0.529). Conclusion: Higher neutrophil count was associated with the appearance of cerebral infarct in head MRI on adult patients with tuberculous meningitis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype is an independent risk factor for tuberculosis treatment failure in Indonesia.

Animal studies have shown that the globally emerging Beijing genotype strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are more virulent than other strains. We examined whether Beijing strains increase treatment failure in a prospective cohort study in Indonesia. Among 818 tuberculosis cases, positive sputum culture results after 6 months of treatment were more common among patients infected with Beijing strains (33.4%) than among those infected with non-Beijing strains (relative risk, 1.94 [95% confidence interval, 1.26-3.00]), even after adjustment for differences in drug resistance. These data suggest that M. tuberculosis Beijing genotype strains have a higher capacity to withstand tuberculosis treatment, even in the absence of drug resistance.

Disfiguring generalized verrucosis in an indonesian man with idiopathic CD4 lymphopenia.

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections cause a spectrum of clinical disease states, depending on the causative HPV and the characteristics of the infected host, especially the status of cell-mediated immunity. Generalized verrucosis is an unusual clinical presentation of a disseminated HPV infection associated with severe immunodeficiency status. OBSERVATIONS: We present a case of extreme disfigurement associated with an HPV-2 (common wart virus) infection. Virologic studies, immune status of the patient, and treatment(s) are summarized. CONCLUSIONS: The severe disfigurement of this patient was a result of an underlying severe immunodeficiency, permissive for a disseminated HPV-2 infection that was allowed to progress for many years before the initiation of therapy. Such a rare case illustrates the natural history of generalized verrucosis in the setting of severe immunodeficiency in the absence of sustained medical interventions. Medical and surgical treatments resulted in marked improvement in the general health of this patient, as well as improvement of the disfigurement that resulted from the generalized verrucosis.