Thuong NTT, et al. - Researchers assessed pre-treatment cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacterial load via GeneXpert in 692 adults with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and determined if CSF bacterial load and inflammation are correlated. In addition, they determined their impacts on severity of disease and treatment outcomes. Findings revealed ten-fold higher Mtb load in association with increased disease severity and increased CSF neutrophils and cytokine concentrations. This suggests a possible utility of pre-treatment GeneXpert-derived Mtb load in predicting the occurrence of neurological complications during TBM treatment.