Table 1. Patient baseline characteristics.
| Tuberculous meningitis | Non-infectious control | Bacterial meningitis* | Cryptococcal meningitis* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 1069) | (n = 54) | (n = 50) | (n = 60) | |
| Clinical features | ||||
| Age, years | 34 (27–44) | 35 (25–44) | 46 (34–57) | 33 (27–37) |
| Sex, % male | 700 (65.5%) | 30 (55.6%) | 12 (60.0%) | 26 (78.8%) |
| Glasgow Coma Scale | 14 (12–15) | 15 (12–15) | 13 (9–14) | 15 (13–15) |
| HIV, % positive | 284 (26.6%) | 11 (20.4%) | 0 (0%) | 60 (100%) |
| Tuberculous meningitis grade (%) | ||||
| Grade I | 287 (27.3%) | - | - | - |
| Grade II | 584 (55.6%) | - | - | - |
| Grade III | 179 (17.0%) | - | - | - |
| Cerebrospinal fluid features | ||||
| Leukocytes, cells/μl | 150 (49–336) | 2 (1–3) | 1900 (739–5460) | 86 (24–192) |
| Neutrophils, cells/μl | 22 (3–99) | 1 (0–1) | 1527 (538–4986) | 17 (6–109) |
| Mononuclear cells, cells/μl | 98 (38–207) | 2 (1–3) | 307 (134–646) | 31 (6–89) |
| Protein, g/l | 1.46 (0.90–2.40) | 0.40 (0.26–0.59) | 1.90 (1.10–3.80) | 0.76 (0.58–1.60) |
| CSF to blood glucose ratio | 0.28 (0.17–0.40) | 0.60 (0.56–0.70) | 0.46 (0.17–1.00) | 0.50 (0.30–1.00) |
| M. tuberculosis culture or ZN staining or GeneXpert positive | 686 (64.17%) | - | - | - |
| Outcomes | ||||
| Outcome at day 60 | ||||
| Alive | 825 (77.2%) | - | - | - |
| Deceased | 231 (21.6%) | - | - | - |
| Lost to follow-up | 13 (1.2%) | - | - | - |
| Outcome at day 180 | ||||
| Alive | 731 (68.4%) | - | - | - |
| Deceased | 304 (28.4%) | - | - | - |
| Lost to follow-up | 34 (3.2%) | - | - | - |
Categorical variables are presented in N (%); continuous variables are presented in median (IQR). Abbreviation: CSF = cerebrospinal fluid.
*
Clinical metadata available for 40% of bacterial meningitis and 56% of cryptococcal meningitis patients.