Role of magnetic resonance (MR) in the diagnosis and management of intracranial tuberculomas

Abstract

Thirty-one patients with intracranial tuberculomas were diagnosed on the basis of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The diagnosis was confirmed in 30; one case was a false-positive. A total of 44 tuberculomas was found in these patients of which 41 were distributed in the cerebral hemispheres, two in the brainstem and one in the cerebellum. No correlation was found between the type of lesion seen on CT and those seen on MR imaging. CT was negative in one patient with a low brainstem tuberculoma. The final diagnosis was based on the response to antituberculous drug treatment as judged by serial MR imaging in 29 patients and by biopsy in one; and one was false-positive. Thirty-nine tuberculomas, all under 2.5 cm in size, showed complete resolution after 5-8 months of treatment. The remaining five lesions were larger than 2.5 cm; four showed a 50% reduction in size after 12 months of treatment and one was completely excised. Three types of response are described to the treatment with anti-tuberculous drugs. The diagnosis of intracranial tuberculomas can be made more objectively with MR imaging.