Aim: To evaluate the benefit of this early method of diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis, gamma-interferon levels comparatively in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
Material and method: We have studied 50 patients with tuberculous meningitis admitted in the Clinic of Infectious Diseases Iaşi between 2006-2007, from the epidemiological, clinical, diagnosis and therapeutical points of view.
Results: Tuberculous meningitis was more frequent in males, with a mean ration of 2.5. The age of patients varied between 2 and 78 years of age, with a mean value of 30.5 years. 35.6% of patients were children. In 32 cases the meningeal infection was secondary, disseminated from a primary site, most frequently from the lungs (68,7%). The bacteriologic confirmation was through culture in 13.3%, with an average of 23.4 days of incubation. In whole blood the sensitivity Quantiferon TB Gold assay (QTF) was 78.57%. In CSF the specificity was higher than in blood (96.1 vs. 88.4%), having a positive prediction value over 90%. Antituberculous therapy prior to QTF testing had a negative impact, 50 to 6 cases having negative QTF results.
Conclusion: The performance indicators of TB Gold Quantiferon Test in serum or CSF are high, being more sensitive and rapid than the direct exam of CSF or BK culture.