373
Views
19
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Reviews

The clinical and laboratory diagnosis of acute meningitis and acute encephalitis

, MD MACP (Chief)
Pages 343-364 | Published online: 30 May 2013

Bibliography

  • Trenkel AR. Bacterial meningitis. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA; 2001. p. 86-163
  • Cunha BA. The diagnosis and therapy of acute bacterial meningitis. In: Schlossberg D, editor. Infections of the nervous system. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY; 1990. p. 3-24
  • Roos KL. Encephalitis. In: Roos KL, editor. Principles of neurologic infectious diseases. McGraw-Hill Co, New York, NY; 2005. p. 65-76
  • Meyers B, Gurtman A. The aseptic meningitis syndrome. In: Schlossberg D, editor. Infections of the nervous system. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY; 1990. p. 31-41
  • Roos KL. Viral meningitis. In: Roos KL, editor. Principles of neurologic infectious diseases. McGraw-Hill Co, New York, NY; 2005. p. 55-64
  • Cunha B, Halperin JJ. Clinical approach in encephalitis. In: Halperin JJ, editor. Encephalitis: diagnosis and treatment. Informa, New York; 2008. p. 1-19
  • Booss J, Esiri M. Diagnostic evaluation. In: Booss J, Esiri M, editors. Viral encephalitis in humans. ASM Press, Washington, D.C; 2003. p. 21-96
  • van de Beek D, de Gans J, Spanjaard L, et al. Clinical features and prognostic factors in adults with bacterial meningitis. 2004;351(18):1849-59
  • Fishman R. Findings in diseases of the nervous system. In: Fishman R, editor. Cerebrospinal fluid in diseases of the nervous system. W.B. Saunders Co, London; 1992. p. 253-325
  • Cunha BA. Central nervous system infections in the compromised host: a diagnostic approach. Infect Dis Clin North Am 2001;15(2):567-90
  • Cunha BA, Smith L. Meningitis and its mimics in critical care. In: Cunha BA, editor. Infectious diseases in critical care medicine. Informa, New York, NY; 2007. p. 134-52
  • Halperin JJ. Encephalitis and its mimics in critical care. In: Cunha BA, editor. Infectious diseases in critical care medicine. Informa, New York, NY; 2007. p. 153-63
  • Reik L, Barwick C. Noninfectious causes of acute CNS inflammation. In: Schlossberg D, editor. Infections of the nervous system. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY; 1990. p. 73-92
  • Roos KL, van de Beek D. Bacterial meningitis. Handb Clin Neurol 2010;96:51-63
  • Cunha BA. Pseudomeningitis–another nosocomial headache. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1988;9(9):391-3
  • Neuman MI, Tolford S, Harper MB. Test characteristics and interpretation of cerebrospinal fluid gram stain in children. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2008;27(4):309-13
  • Strampfer MJ, Domenico P, Cunha BA. Laboratory aids in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. Heart Lung 1988;17(6 Pt 1):605-7
  • Erdem H, Kilic S, Sener B, et al. Diagnosis of chronic brucellar meningitis and meningoencephalitis: the results of the Istanbul-2 study. Clin Microbiol Infect 2013;19(2):E80-6
  • Bhigjee AI, Padayachee R, Paruk H, et al. Diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis: clinical and laboratory parameters. Int J Infect Dis 2007;11(4):348-54
  • Pollock KM, Lalvani A. Tuberculosis of the central nervous system: recognition, diagnosis and treatment in a low-prevalence country. Acute Med 2008;7(3):113-21
  • Baveja CP, Gumma V, Jain M, et al. Newer methods over the conventional diagnostic tests for tuberculous meningitis: do they really help? Trop Doct 2009;39(1):18-20
  • Jongeling AC, Pisapia D. Pearls and Oy-sters: tuberculous meningitis: not a diagnosis of exclusion. Neurology 2013;80(4):e36-9
  • Vibha D, Bhatia R, Prasad K, et al. Validation of diagnostic algorithm to differentiate between tuberculous meningitis and acute bacterial meningitis. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 2012;114(6):639-44
  • Youssef FG, Afifi SA, Azab AM, et al. Differentiation of tuberculous meningitis from acute bacterial meningitis using simple clinical and laboratory parameters. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2006;55(4):275-8
  • Sawanyawisuth K, Sawanyawisuth K, Intapan PM, et al. Specificity of immunoblotting analyses in eosinophilic meningitis. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2011;106(5):570-2
  • Causey JQ. Spontaneous cytomegalovirus mononucleosis-like syndrome and aseptic meningitis. South Med J 1976;69(10):1384-7
  • Kanegaye JT, Nigrovic LE, Malley R, et al. Diagnostic value of immature neutrophils (bands) in the cerebrospinal fluid of children with cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis. Pediatrics 2009;123(6):e967-71
  • Woods SJ, Saron MF, Pfau CJ. Meningeal macrophages reflect lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus pathogenic phenotypes. Scand J Immunol 1987;26(2):97-103
  • Cunha BA, Strollo S, Durie N, Ibrahim MS. Facial herpes zoster complicated by varicella zoster virus (VZV) encephalitis: the diagnostic significance of atypical lymphocytes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Heart Lung 2011;40(2):164-7
  • Sato Y, Ohta Y, Honda Y, et al. Diagnostic value of atypical lymphocytes in cerebrospinal fluid from adults with enteroviral meningitis. J Neurol 1998;245(9):598-602
  • Roos KL. Cerebrospinal fluid. In: Roos KL, editor. Principles of Neurologic Infectious diseases. McGraw-Hill Co, New York, NY; 2005. p. 1-12
  • Fishman R. Composition of cerebrospinal fluid. In: Fishman R, editor. Cerebrospinal fluid in diseases of the nervous system. W.B. Saunders Co, London; 1992. p. 183-236
  • Cunha CB. Infectious disease differential diagnosis. In: Cunha BA, editor. Antibiotic essentials. Jones & Bertlett, Sudbury, MA; 2012. p. 474-506
  • Cunha BA, Filozov A, Reme P. Listeria monocytogenes encephalitis mimicking West Nile encephalitis. Heart Lung 2004;33(1):61-4
  • Joseph FG, Scolding NJ. Sarcoidosis of the nervous system. Pract Neurol 2007;7(4):234-44
  • Nozaki K, Judson MA. Neurosarcoidosis: clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment. Presse Med 2012;41(6 Pt 2):e331-48
  • Romero EC, Blanco RM, Yasuda PH. Aseptic meningitis caused by Leptospira spp diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2010;105(8):988-92
  • Pönkä A, Ojala K, Teppo AM, Weber TH. The differential diagnosis of bacterial and aseptic meningitis using cerebrospinal fluid laboratory tests. Infection 1983;11(3):129-31
  • Pérez-Ruiz M, Navarro-Marí JM, Sánchez-Seco MP, et al. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus-associated meningitis, southern Spain. Emerg Infect Dis 2012;18(5):855-8
  • Brook I, Bricknell KS, Overturf GD, Finegold SM. Measurement of lactic acid in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with infections of the central nervous system. J Infect Dis 1978;137(4):384-90
  • Controni G, Rodriguez WJ, Hicks JM, et al. Cerebrospinal fluid lactic acid levels in meningitis. J Pediatr 1977;91(3):379-84
  • Bailey EM, Domenico P, Cunha BA. Bacterial or viral meningitis? Measuring lactate in CSF can help you know quickly. Postgrad Med 1990;88(5):217-9, 223
  • Cameron PD, Boyce JM, Ansari BM. Cerebrospinal fluid lactate in meningitis and meningococcaemia. J Infect 1993;26(3):245-52
  • Lannigan R, MacDonald MA, Marrie TJ, Haldane EV. Evaluation of cerebrospinal fluid lactic acid levels as an aid in differential diagnosis of bacterial and viral meningitis in adults. J Clin Microbiol 1980;11(4):324-7
  • de Almeida SM, Faria FL, de Goes Fontes K, et al. Quantitation of cerebrospinal fluid lactic acid in infectious and non-infectious neurological diseases. Clin Chem Lab Med 2009;47(6):755-61
  • Sakushima K, Hayashino Y, Kawaguchi T, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of cerebrospinal fluid lactate for differentiating bacterial meningitis from aseptic meningitis: a meta-analysis. J Infect 2011;62(4):255-62
  • García P, Bahamondes L, Reyes P, et al. A comparative study for adenosine deaminase and anti-antigen A-60 antibodies detection for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis. Rev Chilena Infectol 2012;29(5):521-6
  • Moghtaderi A, Niazi A, Alavi-Naini R, et al. Comparative analysis of cerebrospinal fluid adenosine deaminase in tuberculous and non-tuberculous meningitis. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 2010;112(6):459-62
  • Thakur R, Goyal R, Sarma S. Laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis - is there a scope for further improvement? J Lab Physicians 2010;2(1):21-4
  • Pehlivanoglu F, Yasar KK, Sengoz G. Tuberculous meningitis in adults: a review of 160 cases. ScientificWorldJournal 2012;2012:169028
  • Belagavi AC, Shalini M. Cerebrospinal fluid C reactive protein and adenosine deaminase in meningitis in adults. J Assoc Physicians India 2011;59:557-60
  • Dinnes J, Deeks J, Kunst H, et al. A systematic review of rapid diagnostic tests for the detection of tuberculosis infection. Health Technol Assess 2007;11(3):1-196
  • Mandal BK. The dilemma of partially treated bacterial meningitis. Scand J Infect Dis 1976;8(3):185-8
  • Singh M, Paul SS, Gill P. Effect of partial treatment on purulent meningitis. Trop Geogr Med 1980;32(1):16-18
  • Feldman WE. Cerebrospinal fluid lactic acid dehydrogenase activity. Levels in untreated and partially antibiotic-treated meningitis. Am J Dis Child 1975;129(1):77-80
  • Kilpatrick ME, Mikhail IA, Girgis NI. Negative cultures of cerebrospinal fluid in partially treated bacterial meningitis. Trop Geogr Med 1987;39(4):345-9
  • Kleiman MB, Reynolds JK, Watts NH, et al. Superiority of acridine orange stain versus Gram stain in partially treated bacterial meningitis. J Pediatr 1984;104(3):401-4
  • Ross D, Rosegay H, Pons V. Differentiation of aseptic and bacterial meningitis in postoperative neurosurgical patients. J Neurosurg 1988;69(5):669-74
  • Schade RP, Schinkel J, Roelandse FW, et al. Lack of value of routine analysis of cerebrospinal fluid for prediction and diagnosis of external drainage-related bacterial meningitis. J Neurosurg 2006;104(1):101-8
  • Schoch B, Regel JP, Nierhaus A, et al. Predictive value of intrathecal interleukin-6 for ventriculostomy-related infection. Zentralbl Neurochir 2008;69(2):80-6
  • Tavares WM, Machado AG, Matushita H, Plese JP. CSF markers for diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in neurosurgical postoperative patients. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2006;64(3A):592-5
  • Cunha BA. Cerebrospinal fluid lactic acid levels: accurate, fast, and inexpensive. Crit Care Med 2011;39(10):2383-4; author reply 2384-5
  • Cunha BA. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lactic acid levels: a rapid and reliable way to differentiate viral from bacterial meningitis or concurrent viral/bacterial meningitis. J Clin Microbiol 2012;50(1):211
  • Cunha BA. Distinguishing bacterial from viral meningitis: the critical importance of the CSF lactic acid levels. Intensive Care Med 2006;32(8):1272-3; author reply 1274
  • Latcha S, Cunha BA. Listeria monocytogenes meningoencephalitis: the diagnostic importance of the CSF lactic acid. Heart Lung 1994;23(2):177-9
  • Joseph FG, Lammie GA, Scolding NJ. CNS lupus: a study of 41 patients. Neurology 2007;69(7):644-54
  • McCaffrey LM, Petelin A, Cunha BA. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cerebritis versus Listeria monocytogenes meningoencephalitis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus on chronic corticosteroid therapy: the diagnostic importance of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of lactic acid levels. Heart Lung 2012;41(4):394-7
  • Kanoh Y, Ohara T, Akahoshi T. Acute inflammatory biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid as indicators of blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier damage in Japanese subjects with infectious meningitis. Clin Lab 2011;57(1-2):37-46
  • Vázquez JA, Adducci Mdel C, Coll C, et al. Acute meningitis prognosis using cerebrospinal fluid interleukin-6 levels. J Emerg Med 2012;43(2):322-7
  • Viallon A, Desseigne N, Marjollet O, et al. Meningitis in adult patients with a negative direct cerebrospinal fluid examination: value of cytochemical markers for differential diagnosis. Crit Care 2011;15(3):R136
  • Vázquez JA, Adducci Mdel C, Godoy Monzón D, Iserson KV. Lactic dehydrogenase in cerebrospinal fluid may differentiate between structural and non-structural central nervous system lesions in patients with diminished levels of consciousness. J Emerg Med 2009;37(1):93-7
  • Kim SH, Cho OH, Park SJ, et al. Rapid diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis by T cell-based assays on peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid mononuclear cells. Clin Infect Dis 2010;50(10):1349-58
  • Doolittle BR, Alias A. Application of a prediction rule to discriminate between aseptic and bacterial meningitis in adults. Hosp Pract (Minneap) 2009;37(1):93-7
  • Lindquist L, Linné T, Hansson LO, et al. Value of cerebrospinal fluid analysis in the differential diagnosis of meningitis: a study in 710 patients with suspected central nervous system infection. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 1988;7(3):374-80
  • Wu HM, Cordeiro SM, Harcourt BH, et al. Accuracy of real-time PCR, Gram stain and culture for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae meningitis diagnosis. BMC Infect Dis 2013;13:26
  • Kaiser R. Tick-borne encephalitis: clinical findings and prognosis in adults. Wien Med Wochenschr 2012;162(11-12):239-43
  • Telford S, Foppa I. Tickborne encephalitides. In: Cunha B, editor. Tickborne infectious disease: diagnosis and management. Marcel Dekker, New York, NY; 2000. p. 193-213
  • Jaijakul S, Arias CA, Hossain M, et al. Toscana meningoencephalitis: a comparison to other viral central nervous system infections. J Clin Virol 2012;55(3):204-8
  • Hoffmann O, Reuter U, Masuhr F, et al. Low sensitivity of serum procalcitonin in bacterial meningitis in adults. Scand J Infect Dis 2001;33(3):215-18
  • Julián-Jiménez A, Flores Chacartegui M, Palomo de Los Reyes MJ, Brea-Zubigaray S. Usefulness of procalcitonin and c-reactive protein in the acute meningitis in the emergency department. Neurologia 2013;28(3):189-90
  • Ibrahim KA, Abdel-Wahab AA, Ibrahim AS. Diagnostic value of serum procalcitonin levels in children with meningitis: a comparison with blood leukocyte count and C-reactive protein. J Pak Med Assoc 2011;61(4):346-51
  • Nathan BR, Scheld WM. The potential roles of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin concentrations in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. Curr Clin Top Infect Dis 2002;22:155-65
  • Shimetani N, Shimetani K, Mori M. Levels of three inflammation markers, C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A protein and procalcitonin, in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with meningitis. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 2001;61(7):567-74
  • Prasad R, Kapoor R, Mishra OP, et al. Serum procalcitonin in septic meningitis. Indian J Pediatr 2013;80(5):365-70
  • Alkholi UM, Abd Al-Monem N, Abd El-Azim AA, Sultan MH. Serum procalcitonin in viral and bacterial meningitis. J Glob Infect Dis 2011;3(1):14-18
  • Morley JJ, Kushner I. Serum C-reactive protein levels in disease. Ann NY Acad Sci 1982;389:406-18
  • Rajs G, Finzi-Yeheskel Z, Rajs A, Mayer M. C-reactive protein concentrations in cerebral spinal fluid in gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial meningitis. Clin Chem 2002;48(3):591-2
  • Sindic CJ, Collet-Cassart D, Depré A, et al. C-reactive protein in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in various neurological disorders. Apparent local consumption during bacterial meningitis. J Neurol Sci 1984;63(3):339-44
  • Peltola HO. C-reactive protein for rapid monitoring of infections of the central nervous system. Lancet 1982;1(8279):980-2
  • Sirijaichingkul S, Tiamkao S, Sawanyawisuth K, Chotmongkol V. C reactive protein for differentiating bacterial from aseptic meningitis in Thai patients. J Med Assoc Thai 2005;88(9):1251-6
  • Valmari P, Peltola H, Ruuskanen O. C-reactive protein as predictor of sequelae of meningitis. Lancet 1984;1(8379):741-2
  • Valmari P. White blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum C-reactive protein in meningitis: magnitude of the response related to bacterial species. Infection 1984;12(5):328-30
  • Hage JE, Cunha BA. Are ESR/CRP ratios helpful in differentiating West Nile encephalitis from non-West Nile virus meningitis/encephalitis? Scand J Infect Dis 2013; Epub ahead of print
  • Cunha BA. Differential diagnosis of West Nile encephalitis. Curr Opin Infect Dis 2004;17(5):413-20
  • Cunha BA, Sachdev B, Canario D. Serum ferritin levels in West Nile encephalitis. Clin Microbiol Infect 2004;10(2):184-6
  • de Ory F, Avellón A, Echevarría JE, et al. Viral infections of the central nervous system in Spain: a prospective study. J Med Virol 2013;85(3):554-62
  • Beran GW, Steele JH. Handbook of zoonoses. 2nd edition. CPR Press, Boca Raton, Florida; 1994
  • Berger SA, Calisher CH, Keystone JS. Exotic viral diseases. BC Decker, Inc, Hamilton, Ontario; 2003
  • Booss J, Esiri MM. Viral encephalitis in humans. ASM Press, Washington, D.C; 2003
  • Cunha BA. editor. Tickborne infectious disease: diagnosis and management. Marcel Dekker, New York, NY; 2000
  • Fishman RA. Cerebrospinal fluid in diseases of the nervous system. 2nd edition. W.B. Saunders Co, London; 1992
  • Halperin JJ. Encephalitis: diagnosis and treatment. Informa Healthcare, New York; 2008
  • Krauss H, Weber A, Appel M, et al. Zoonoses: infectious disease transmissible from animals to humans. 3rd edition. ASM Press, Washington, D.C; 2003
  • Porterfield JS. editor. Exotic viral infections. Chapman & Hall Medical, Oxford; 1995
  • Roos KL. editor. Principles of neurologic infectious diseases. McGraw-Hill Co, New York; 2005
  • Scheld WM, Whitley RJ, Marra CM. Infections of the central nervous system. 3rd edition. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia; 2004
  • Schlossberg D. editor. Infections of the nervous system. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY; 1990
  • Wood M, Anderson M. Neurological infections. W.B. Saunders Co, London; 1988

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.