RECURRENT TUBERCULOUS MENINGITIS: REPORT OF A CASE

Among the commoner forms of meningeal infection, tuberculous meningitis continues to be the most resistant to modern treatment. Even for those patients who survive the early stages of the disease there can be no assurance that a complete recovery will be accomplished. If treatment is discontinued too soon a relapse may occur. When streptomycin is prescribed for a period of several months, there may be damage to the eighth cranial nerve that results in serious impairment or even complete loss of hearing. In addition it has been asserted that a resistant strain of tubercle bacilli may develop and streptomycin become ineffective. Some patients who appear to make a satisfactory recovery will perhaps show later that they are subnormal mentally. Others may have a residual paralysis or paresis. It is nearly seven years since the patient described below first entered the contagious disease department of Cook County Hospital. She has come