Human immunodeficiency virus in patients with tuberculous meningitis: Systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) -infected individuals are at increased risk for all forms of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB), including tuberculous meningitis (TBM). The current study aimed to investigate the frequency of HIV in TBM patients. METHODS: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched for articles including relevant data. Stata version 14.0 (StataCorp, College Station, Texas, USA) was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Twenty studies were identified. The pooled frequency of HIV among adult patients with TBM was 38.0% (95%CI: 21.0-57.0; I(2) =97%). In children (under the age of 15 years), 6.0% (95%CI: 1.0-13.0; I(2) =0.0%) had HIV infection. In patients with bacterial meningitis other than TBM, 36.0% (95%CI: 19.0-53.0; I(2) =100%) were HIV-infected. CONCLUSIONS: A relatively high frequency of HIV in TBM patients was indicated by our study. Establishment of diagnostic criteria and effective treatment strategies for TBM/HIV co-infection are recommended for better management of patients with TBM+HIV. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

• Population(s)
  • General HIV+ population
• Co-infections
  • Tuberculosis
  • Other