A retrospective study of 1247 cases of intracranial tuberculomata diagnosed by computerized tomography

Abstract

Tuberculomata in the brain are a common feature of intracranial tuberculosis, especially in the sub-continent. With the advent of computerized tomography, a diagnosis can be made, in many instances. In this study, 1247 cases of CT diagnosed intracranial tuberculomata were analysed retrospectively with regard to the age, sex and symptoms of the patient as well as the number, site and distribution of the lesion within the brain. Tabulation with respect to age revealed that patients with ages ranging from 1-30 years accounted for 60% of the cases. The male to female ratio was approximately 60:40. The parietal hemisphere accounted for 46.75% of the cases. Left sided lesion were more common when compared with the right (statistically significant). We postulate that this increased occurrence of left sided lesions is due to the hematogenous mode of infection and increased blood flow to the dominant hemisphere.