Cystic cerebral tuberculoma. A case report

A case of cystic cerebral tuberculoma is presented. A 63-year-old man was admitted initially to a sanatorium in May, 1983, for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. He developed headache and vomiting, and suddenly had a right hemiconvulsion on September 27, 1983. Gradually he developed right hemiparesis and motor aphasia. CT scan revealed a well defined, ring-like enhanced mass with multioculated cysts in the left fronto-parietal lobe. So, he was transferred to our hospital on February 3, 1984. Neurological examination revealed that he had motor aphasia and right hemiparesis. Left carotid angiogram showed light tumor stain in the left frontoparietal lobe, and ^99mTc brain scan detected increased uptake in this area. A left fronto-parieto-temporal craniotomy was performed and a subcortical mass was excised en bloc. The mass had multioculated cysts containing xanthochromic fluid. Histologically, the mass was cystic cerebral tuberculoma. Cystic cerebral tuberculomas have rarely been reported even before the introduction of antituberculous chemotherapy. The pathogenesis of the cysts in this particular case was considered that the caseous material would have undergone liquefaction by enzymes liberated from degenerated and fragmented inflammatory cells.