Distribution of orally administered bromine-82 in tubercular meningitis: concise communication.

Bromine-82 as ammonium bromide (0.6 muCi/kg) was administered orally to 86 children with neurologic manifestations of tubercular meningitis (TBM). The cerebrospinal-fluid-to-plasma activity ratios were obtained at 48 hr. A serum-to-CSF ratio below 1.9 was highly specific for TBM (40 of 42 patients), and only 4 of 44 patients with neurologic disorders other than TBM had ratios below 1.9. An attempt to simplify the diagnosis of TBM was carried out in 44 of the 86 patients by obtaining external counts over the head, heart, and thigh at 4, 24, and 48 hr after Br-82 administration, but these external counts did not distinguish TBM patients from the other patients in our series.