Solitary intracranial tuberculoma in patients without immuno-suppression: a report of three cases.
OBJECTIVE
Poverty, drug resistance and the advent of human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) have led to a recent upsurge in the incidence of tuberculosis including intracranial tuberculosis. In this article, we report 3 patients who had solitary brain tuberculomas and were otherwise healthy to underscore the importance of continuing vigilance for this disease.


METHODS
Three patients (57 years, female; 52 years, male; 7 years male) presented to our unit with features of intracranial tumours. They were all HIV negative with no previous history of tuberculosis. Cranial computed tomography scans demonstrated uniformly contrast enhancing falcine supratentorial masses in the adult patients and a cerebellar hemispheric lesion with peripheral contrast enhancement in the paediatric patient


METHODS
All the patients had gross total tumour excision. The histology confirmed a tuberculoma. They all had antituberculous therapy after histological confirmation. The outcome was good in all the patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Intracranial tuberculoma can occur in otherwise healthy individuals and should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of solitary intracranial mass lesions in sub-Saharan Africans so that minimally invasive procedures can be used to establish the correct diagnosis.
Adeolu
A A
AA
Department of Surgery, College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and University of Ibadan College Hospital, Nigeria.
Shokunbi
M T
MT
Malomo
A O
AO
Akang
E A A
EA
Obajimi
M O
MO
Komolafe
E O
EO
D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002531:Cerebellum; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016862:Tuberculoma, Intracranial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000276:immunology
D000995:Antitubercular Agents