TY - JOUR T1 - Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra: the long-awaited game changer for tuberculous meningitis? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.01201-2017 VL - 50 IS - 4 SP - 1701201 AU - Jerome H. Chin Y1 - 2017/10/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/50/4/1701201.abstract N2 - Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the leading infectious cause of death globally and an estimated 10.4 million incident cases of tuberculosis (TB) and 1.8 million deaths occurred in 2015 [1]. Central nervous system TB, including tuberculous meningitis and brain tuberculomas, is challenging to diagnose and carries a high risk of severe disability and death [2]. Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of TB treatment offer the best chance of a good neurological outcome; however, an MTB culture of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the current reference standard for tuberculous meningitis, usually requires several weeks or longer for growth and is too slow for initial clinical decision-making. In addition, CSF microscopy using Ziehl–Neelsen staining has a very low sensitivity [2] and, as such, integration of clinical and laboratory findings, as well as neuroimaging results, is necessary in the majority of cases to make a probable or possible diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis in the absence of microbiological confirmation [2, 3].Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra is a promising new technology to aid the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis http://ow.ly/pwCy30eORBm ER -