Objective To investigate the clinical features of tuberculous meningoencephalitis.Methods The clinical characteristics and laboratory results of 126 cases who were diagnosed as tuberculous meningoencephalitis fromJanuary 2000 to April 2009 were analyzed retrospectively. Results The clinical manifestations of tuberculous meningoencephalitis included fever, headache, vomitting, hemiparalysis,paraplegia, mental anomaly, hypopsia, deafness, diplopia, muscular spasms, coma, and incomplete oculomotor palsy, etc. Vomitting which was characteristic symptom of tuberculous meningoencephalitis was found in 25 cases( 19. 8% ) . The diagnosis was confirmed more than eightweeks after the onset of the disease in 31 cases ( 24. 6% ) . The inhospital mortality rate of tuberculous meningoencephalitis was 14. 3% ( 18 /126) . The inhospital mortality rate of re-treatment patients was 42. 9% ( 6 /14) . In 41 patients with poor prognosis ( death or therapy failure) , 68. 3% ( 28/41) cases were complicated with military tuberculosis, which was higher than the overall occurrence of 41. 3% ( 52/126) . Conclusions Strict diagnostic criteria and atypicalsymptoms lead to delayed diagnosis, delayed treatment, and high mortality in patients with tuberculous meningoencephalitis, particularly in patients with military tuberculosis and re-treatment patients. There is still no effective treatment which have a significant impact on the prognosis.
