Why the study?
Does the measurement of specific CSF chemical parameters improve the early differential diagnosis between bacterial and viral meningitis?
Does the measurement of specific CSF chemical parameters improve the early differential diagnosis between bacterial and viral meningitis?
The combination of CSF lactate and the CSF:blood glucose ratio provides a highly effective method for the early differentiation of bacterial from viral meningitis.
May aid early meningitis differentiation; leaves open prospective validation before changing practice.
The present study was undertaken to evaluate the benefit of measuring different chemical parameters in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), at the time of admittance to hospital, for rapid differentiation between bacterial and viral meningitis. In addition to the leucocyte count, the CSF concentration of total protein, glucose (together with blood glucose), lactate, lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase was determined. The results revealed that the CSF lactate and the CSF:blood glucose ratio were the two best parameters for this purpose. When the information from these analyses was combined a complete separation between the two kinds of meningitis could be obtained.
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Landaas et al. (1985) studied this question.
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