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When looking at the most common causes of meningitis, 8.3% are due to herpes simplex virus. [8] HSV-2 specifically is the most common cause of meningitis in adults. [6] Herpesviral meningitis primarily affects people aged 35–40, the elderly, and women. [9] Between 20% and 50% of cases have clinical recurrences. [3]
People with cranial CSF leaks, the rarer form, have a 10% risk of developing meningitis per year. [55] If cranial leaks last more than seven days, the chances of developing meningitis are significantly higher. [55] Spinal CSF leaks cannot result in meningitis due to the sterile conditions of the leak site. [24]
Meningitis can be life-threatening because of the inflammation's proximity to the brain and spinal cord; therefore, the condition is classified as a medical emergency. [2] [8] A lumbar puncture, in which a needle is inserted into the spinal canal to collect a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), can diagnose or exclude meningitis. [1] [8]
Some of the possible symptoms of chronic meningitis (due to any cause) include headache, nausea and vomiting, fever, and visual impairment. Nuchal rigidity (or neck stiffness with discomfort in trying to move the neck), a classic symptom in acute meningitis, was seen in only 45% of cases of chronic meningitis with the sign being even more rare in non-infectious causes.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless body fluid found within the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord of all vertebrates. CSF is produced by specialized ependymal cells in the choroid plexus of the ventricles of the brain, and absorbed in the arachnoid granulations. In humans, there is about 125 mL of CSF at any one time ...
Meningococcal meningitis is a form of bacterial meningitis. Meningitis is a disease caused by inflammation and irritation of the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. In meningococcal meningitis this is caused by the bacteria invading the cerebrospinal fluid and circulating through the central nervous system. Sub ...
CSF glucose levels can be useful in distinguishing among causes of meningitis as more than 50% of patients with bacterial meningitis have decreased CSF glucose levels while patients with viral meningitis usually have normal CSF glucose levels. Decrease in glucose levels during a CNS infection is caused due to glycolysis by both white cells and ...
Postcontrast FLAIR of a case of meningitis. It shows enhancement of meninges at the tentorium and in the parietal region, with evidence of dilated ventricles. Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) is a magnetic resonance imaging sequence with an inversion recovery set to null fluids.