Table 6.

The Marais criteria for the diagnosis of TBM on admission.

	Diagnostic score
Clinical criteria	(Maximum category score = 6)
Symptom duration of more than 5 days	4
Systemic symptoms suggestive of tuberculosis (one or more of the following): weight loss (or poor weight gain in children), night sweats, or persistent cough for more than 2 weeks	2
History of recent (within past year) close contact with an individual with pulmonary tuberculosis or a positive TST or IGRA (only in children <10 years of age)	2
Focal neurological deficit (excluding cranial palsies)	1
Cranial nerve palsy	1
Altered consciousness	1
CSF criteria	(Maximum category score = 4)
Clear appearance	1
Cells: 10–500 per μl	1
Lymphocytic predominance (>50%)	1
Protein concentration greater than 1 g/L	1
CSF to plasma glucose ratio of less than 50% or an absolute CSF glucose concentration less than 2.2 mmol/L	1
Cerebral imaging criteria	(Maximum category score = 6)
Hydrocephalus	1
Basal meningeal enhancement	2
Tuberculoma	2
Infarct	1
Pre-contrast basal hyperdensity	2
Evidence of tuberculosis elsewhere	(Maximum category score = 4)
Chest radiograph suggestive of active tuberculosis signs of tuberculosis = 2; miliary tuberculosis = 4	2/4
CT/MRI/Ultrasound evidence for tuberculosis outside the CNS	2
AFB identified or Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultured from another source-i.e., sputum, lymph node, gastric washing, urine, blood culture	4
Positive commercial M. tuberculosis NAAT from extra-neural specimen	4
Exclusion of alternative diagnoses

TST, tuberculin skin test; IGRA, interferon-gamma release assay; NAAT, nucleic acid amplification test; AFB, acid-fast bacilli.