Introduction: One of the most serious extrapulmonary type of tuberculosis that affects people under the age of 40 is brain tuberculoma. They are space-occupying masses of granulomatous tissue that result from hematogenous spread from a distant focus of tuberculous infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Symptoms and radiologic features being nonspecific usually leads to misdiagnosis and mimics a variety of other infectious diseases. Anti-tubercular drugs are essential for the successful treatment of cerebral tuberculomas.
Case report: The authors present a case report of a 52-year-old diabetic woman, who presented to the Emergency Department of a tertiary care hospital and was diagnosed with brain tuberculomas with a brain biopsy. Brain tuberculomas are rare and could be overlooked. Therefore, this is an important consideration in cases with higher suspicions, given the rapid decline in patient condition.
Conclusion: Due to their rarity, ambiguous symptoms, and radiographic characteristics, intracranial tuberculomas continue to provide a clinical challenge and must always be considered in the differential diagnosis of cerebral space occupying lesions. As CSF may not yield positivity for both CBNAAT and smear examination, a brain biopsy specimen for culture should always be kept in mind for detecting tuberculoma and initiating anti-tubercular treatment at the earliest.
Keywords: CSF; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; brain biopsy; liquid Culture; tuberculoma.
© 2023 The Authors.