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Tuberculous encephalopathy: a reappraisal

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Abstract

Forty years ago Dastur and Udani described a form of diffuse cerebral damage in tuberculosis, which they called tuberculous encephalopathy. Their pathological and clinical observations led them to propose an immune pathogenesis. Although there have been no convincing independently reported series, the entity is now established in the tuberculosis literature. We review the literature on tuberculous encephalopathy, and suggest alternative aetiopathogenetic explanations for the appearances of the brain in these cases. We propose that tuberculosis is one of many infections which may be associated with a range of immune, drug-related, hypoxic–ischaemic and toxic diffuse brain pathologies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    G. Alistair Lammie

  2. Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Anatomical Pathology, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, South Africa

    Richard H. Hewlett

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, South Africa

    Johan F. Schoeman & Peter R. Donald

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  1. G. Alistair Lammie
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  2. Richard H. Hewlett
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  3. Johan F. Schoeman
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  4. Peter R. Donald
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Correspondence to G. Alistair Lammie.

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Lammie, G.A., Hewlett, R.H., Schoeman, J.F. et al. Tuberculous encephalopathy: a reappraisal. Acta Neuropathol 113, 227–234 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-006-0172-7

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