Table 1 Patient baseline characteristics.
From: CSF carnitine is a potential biomarker in paediatric tuberculous meningitis
Tuberculous meningitis (n = 56) | Non-meningitis controls (n = 57) | Viral meningitis (n = 31) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Clinical symptoms [n(%)] | ||||
Age in months [median (range)] | 47 (8–144) | 45 (5–168) | 68 (5–156) | |
Sex | Female | 29 (52) | 20 (35) | 8 (26) |
Male | 27 (48) | 37 (65) | 23 (74) | |
Tuberculous meningitis stage | Stage I | 8 (15) | N/A | N/A |
Stage II | 20 (37) | |||
Stage III | 26 (48) | |||
Fever | 45 (82) | 34 (60) | 28 (90) | |
Vomiting | 39 (70) | 27 (47) | 23 (74) | |
Diarrhea | 7 (13) | 12 (21) | 5 (16) | |
Weight loss | 24 (43) | 8 (14) | 0 | |
Headache | 21 (38) | 17 (30) | 23 (74) | |
Raised ICP | 7 (13) | 1 (2) | 1 (3) | |
Meningeal irritation | 16 (29) | 8 (14) | 14 (45) | |
Seizure | 15 (27) | 21 (37) | 2 (6) | |
Cough | 20 (36) | 16 (28) | 7 (23) | |
Decreased consciousness | 11 (20) | 11 (19) | 4 (13) | |
Neuroimaging parameters [n(%)] | ||||
Hydrocephalus | 44 (79) | 1 (2) | 0 | |
Basal enhancement | 41 (73) | 3 (5) | 1 (3) | |
Infarctions | 14 (25) | 1 (2) | 1 (3) | |
Brainstem dysfunction | 7 (13) | 1 (2) | 1 (3) | |
Tuberculomas | 11 (20) | 0 | 0 | |
Cerebrospinal fluid features [median (range)] | Normal values (33, 34) | |||
Glucose (mM) | 2.77–4.44 | 2 (1.2–3.2) | 3.8 (3.40–4.30) | 3.5 (3.15–3.90) |
Protein (g) | 0.15–0.6 | 1.13 (0.81–3.2) | 0.2 (0.15–0.27) | 0.39 (0.23–0.59) |
Erythrocytes (cells/µL) | – | 4 (0.0–74.50) | 0 (0.0–1.0) | 2 (0–30.5) |
Leucocytes (cells/µL) | 0–5 | 58 (22.5–173.5) | 0 (0.0–1.5) | 78 (35–197.50) |
PMNs (cells/µL) | 0–5 | 3(0.0–12.0) | 0 (0–0) | 20 (0–28.50) |
Lymphocytes (cells/µL) | < 5 | 55 (17.0–126.0) | 0 (0.0–1.0) | 49 (19–121) |
