title: Incidental MRI finding of a pons tuberculoma in a patient with so-far-undiagnosed multisystemic tuberculosis infection.
abstract: Tuberculomas are routinely included in the differential diagnosis of newly detected intracranial lesions in patients with known systemic tuberculosis, but are rarely considered in patients without systemic disease. We report a 49-year-old patient without any neurological symptoms whose magnetic resonance imaging examination showed a lesion in the pons that was suspected of being an opportunistic, DD granulomatous lesion, which prompted further laboratory examinations revealing systemic tubercle bacillus (TB) infection. Tuberculosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of an intracranial solitary lesion even in atypical locations and in asymptomatic patients without prior diagnosis of a TB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 10, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland. sebastian.winklhofer@usz.ch
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Winklhofer
authors.forename: Spyros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kollias
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D011149:Pons / Q000382:microbiology*; D013256:Steroids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016862:Tuberculoma, Intracranial / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D013256:Steroids