Using cerebrospinal fluid nanopore sequencing assay to diagnose tuberculous meningitis: a retrospective cohort study in China

This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of nanopore sequencing for the early diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) using cerebrospinal fluid and compared it with acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear, mycobacterial growth indicator tube (MGIT) culture, and Xpert MTB/Rifampicin (RIF). We enrolled 64 adult patients with presumptive TBM admitted to our hospital from August 2021 to August 2023. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of AFB smear, culture, Xpert MTB/RIF, and nanopore sequencing to evaluate their diagnostic efficacy compared with a composite reference standard for TBM. Among these 64 patients, all tested negative for TBM by AFB smear. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 11.11%, 100%, 100%, and 32.2% for culture, 13.33%, 100%, 100%, and 2.76% for Xpert MTB/RIF, and 77.78%, 100%, 100% and 65.52% for nanopore sequencing, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of the nanopore sequencing test was ..., We retrospectively screened patients with clinically presumptive TBM admitted to the Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Zhejiang Chinese and Western Medicine Integrated Hospital from August 2021 to August 2023. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) patients aged 18–80 years; (2) those presenting with the symptoms of presumptive TBM (such as headache, high fever, nausea and vomiting, or altered consciousness) or signs of neurological disease; (3) those who completed lumbar puncture; and (4) those whose CSF samples were used for all four tests (AFB smear, culture, Xpert MTB/RIF, and nanopore sequencing). Patients whose CSF samples were not obtained for relevant testing and those lost to follow-up were excluded., , # **Using cerebrospinal fluid nanopore sequencing assay to diagnose tuberculous meningitis: a retrospective cohort study in China**

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k98sf7mfq](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k98sf7mfq)

## Description of the data and file structure

After screening 73 patients, 9 with incomplete data were excluded and 64 patients with complete clinical data were enrolled. The average age of the participants was 47 ± 19 years, and 39 (60.94%) were male. All patients tested negative for blood HIV antibody tests, whereas 53 (82.81%) patients tested positive for T-SPOT.TB assay. Based on international standards, 45 patients were diagnosed with TBM, including 18 definite and 27 probable cases. The remaining 19 patients were not diagnosed with TBM, including 8 possible and 11 non-TBM cases.

### Sheet 1

Shows the medical records of all the enrolled patients that we collected.

The specifics are:

* column A represents gender (male 1, female 0)
* column B represents neurolo...