Clinical observations were done. on 77 cases of tuberculous meningitis treated as in-patients at the Daegu Fatima Hospital over a period of 6 years, from January 1970 to December 1975, and the following results were obtained.
1. The ratio of the number of the tuberculous meningitis to the total number of patients admitted to internal medicine during the same period was 0.75 % as a whole and there has been no apparent tendency to both increase and decrease in the yearly ratio.
2. The ratio between male and female was 1 : 1.2 and the peak age incidence was in the 2nd decade, amounting to 36.4% of the total.
3. 36.4% cases noted in the spring, 33.8%, in the summer, 15.6%, in the autumn and 14.2%, in the winter.
4. The most common symptoms andd signs in order of frequency were headache, vomiting, neck, stiffness, fever and mental disturbance, while neurological signs on admission were usually positive Kernig´s signs and positive Babinski´s sign. The duration from onset to admission was over 3 weeks in 51.9% of the cases.
5. The- associated extrameningeal tuberculous lesions were discovered in 54.5% of the cases, including pulmonary tuberculosis (23.5%), miliary tuberculosis {9.1%), pleural effusion (9. 1%) and others(3.9%).
6. The cerebrospinal fluid examination on admission revealed increased cerebrospinal pressure (96. 1 %), leukocytosis (100%), increased portein (93.5), decreased suger (44.2%) and low chloride (26.0%).
7. The overall mortality was 28.l%, and high mortality was found in the ´cases of old age and profound mental -disturbance.´The duration from onset to admission and the cerebrospinal pressure on admission also seemed to have some prognostic significance.
8. The late sequelae encountered by 13 patients (23.6%), included diplopia, ptosis, hemiparesis, dysarthria, hemiplegia and aphasia.
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