Tuberculosis of the nervous system can present as tuberculous meningitis,
tuberculoma of brain, Potts paraplegia, tuberculosis of spine and rarely as arachnoiditis
and vasculitis.
Tuberculosis is conventionally treated for 12 to 18 months to ensure adequate cure,
stabilise quiescence and prevent relapses. With the introduction of rifampicin and
pyrazinamide it became feasible to shorten the duration of chemotherapy to 6 to 9
months. Many controlled clinical trials conducted all over the world have confirmed the
success of this approach in pulmonary tuberculosis by evolving 100% effective SCC
regimens 1-5. In a few studies especially tuberculous lymphadenitis, tuberculous abdomen
and pericarditis SCC has also been used and found to be as effective as conventional
regimens6,7. However, only recently has SCC been tried for neurotuberculosis. This
presentation briefly highlights some of the chemotherapy trials conducted at the
Tuberculosis Research Centre in some areas of CNS tuberculosis8-10.
What is SCC? SCC refers to chemotherapeutic regimens containing powerful
bactericidal drugs like INH, Rifampicin and Pyrazinamide, by the use of which the
duration of treatment of TB is reduced from the conventional 12 to 18 months to 6 to 9
months
