Tuberculoma Mimicking Meningioma of the Falx Cerebri. PCR Diagnosis of Mycobacterial DNA from Formalin-fixed Tissue

We describe a 47-year-old patient with intracerebral tuberculoma of the falx cerebri and fronto-parietal cerebral cortex. The patient presented after a single episode of epileptic seizures. Computed tomography and MRI scans were suggestive of meningioma. At surgery a granulomatous tumor was removed that adhered to the cerebral cortex. The diagnosis of tuberculoma was verified by histology and growth in culture of mycobacterium tuberculosis. The patient recovered after surgery and chemotherapy. Three years later we confirmed the diagnosis using polymerase chain reaction for mycobacterial DNA sequences on the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue.