Observations Recueillies au Cours D’un Essai de Traitement de la Méningite Tuberculeuse par la Streptomycine

Abstract

The authors experimented the treatment of tuberculous meningitis and acute miliary with streptomycin from November 26, 1916. Their series is more than 80 cases. This work presents the facts recorded on the first 26 patients during the first five observations months. This period represents with this treatment a first phase in the evolution of treated tuberculous meningitis. The drug was given at the same time in the muscle and in the spine. The total time of hospitalisation was 5 months. During this period, streptomycin was given in a series of cures alternating with periods of rest in which no antibiotic was administred. The usual treatment was this : l^st cure of 45 days; 1^st rest of 20 days; 2^d cure of 20 days; 2^d rest of 20 days; 3^d cure of 30 days; treatment stopped. The observed facts are numerous and full of interest; they are detailed in this work. In the first group of 26 cases, the influence of streptomycin was particularly good : 21 patients were still alive at the end of the 5^th month, and 19 of them were able to leave for a sanatorium with all outward signs of an established convalescence. The prognosis of this first 5 months period in the evolution of the treated tuberculous meningitis depends on an early treatment. The facts observed during the second period (6 to 12 months) and the conclusions following a complete study of all the cases will be published later.