Multidrug-resistant tuberculous meningitis: Clinical problems and concentrations of second-line antituberculous medications

OBJECTIVE: TO describe a case of culture-proven multidrug-resistant tuberculous (MDR-TB) meningitis, in which the patient survived long enough for clinicians to adjust antituberculous therapy to second-line therapeutic agents. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Tertiary care hospital. PATIENT: Twenty-one-month-old girl with MDR-TB meningitis. INTERVENTIONS: Initial standard treatment failed. Subsequent treatment with second-line therapeutic agents including ciprofloxacin, cycloserine, ethambutol, ethionamide, and rifabutin were given for approximately two years. Concentrations of these drugs were measured in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in the presence and absence of meningeal inflammation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES/RESULTS: The patient survived for approximately two years after initiation of second-line anti-TB therapy. During this treatment, she developed a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt tunnel tract infection secondary to MDR-TB. CONCLUSIONS: All TB meningitis isolates for which the source case antibiotic susceptibility pattern is not known should be cultured and susceptibility tested using rapid broth techniques. Measurement and subsequent adjustment of therapeutic drug concentrations may optimize therapy with second-line anti-TB drugs in TB meningitis. Better pediatric formulations and pharmacokinetic data for second-line and anti-TB therapeutic agents are needed.