Bacterial meningitis differential diagnosis
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Bacterial meningitis Microchapters |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aysha Anwar, M.B.B.S[2]
Overview
Differential diagnosis
Bacterial meningitis may mimick other diseases in terms of clinical signs and symptoms. It is important to differentiate meningitis from other diseases with similar presentation. Once the diagnsis of meningitis is confirmed, the next step may be to differentiate different types of meningitis on the basis of CSF examnination:
Differentiating bacterial meningitis from other diseases
| Diseases | Diagnostic tests | Physical Examination | Symptoms | Past medical history | Other Findings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Na+, K+, Ca2+ | CT /MRI | CSF Findings | Gold standard test | Neck stiffness | Motor or Sensory deficit | Papilledema | Bulging fontanelle | Cranial nerves | Headache | Fever | Altered mental status | |||
| Brain tumour[1] Determination of creatine kinase BB and carcinoembryonic antigenhelps in differentiating.[2] | ✔ | Cancer cells[3] | MRI | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Cachexia, gradual progression of symptoms | ||||
| Delerium Tremens | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Alcohal intake, sudden witdrawl or reduction in consumption | Tachycardia, diaphoresis, hypertension, tremors, mydriasis, positional nystagmus, tachypnea | |||||
| Subarachnoid hemorrhage[4] | ✔ | Xanthochromia[5] | CT scan without contrast[6][7] | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Trauma/fall | Confusion, dizziness, nausea, vomiting | |
| Stroke | ✔ | Normal | CT scan without contrast | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | TIAs, hypertension, diabetes mellitus | Speech difficulty, gait abnormality | ||||
| Neurosyphilis[8][9] | ✔ | ↑ Leukocytes and protein | CSF VDRL-specifc
CSF FTA-Ab -sensitive[10] |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Unprotected sexual intercourse, STIs | Blindness, confusion, depression,
Abnormal gait | |||
| Viral encephalitis | ✔ | Increased RBCS or xanthochromia, mononuclear lymphocytosis, high protein content, normal glucose | Clinical assesment | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Tick bite/mosquito bite/ viral prodome for several days | Extreme lethargy, rash hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, behavioural changes | ||
| Herpes simplex encephalitis | ✔ | Clinical assesment | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | History of hypertension | Delirium, cortical blindness, cerebral edema, seizure | |||||
| Wernicke’s encephalopathy | Normal | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | History of alcohal abuse | Ophthalmoplegia, confusion | ||||||||
| CNS abscess | ✔ | ↑ leukocytes >100,000/ul, ↓ glucose and ↑ protien, ↑ red blood cells, lactic acid >500mg | Contrast enhanced MRI is more sensitive and specific,
Histopathological examination of brain tissue |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | History of drug abuse, endocarditis, ↓ immune status | High grade fever, fatigue,nausea, vomiting | ||
| Drug toxicity | ✔ | ✔ | Lithium, Sedatives, phenytoin, carbamazepine | |||||||||||
| Conversion disorder | Diagnosis of exclusion | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Tremors, blindness, difficulty swallowing | |||||||
| Electrolyte disturbance | ↓ or ↑ | Depends on the cause | ✔ | ✔ | Confusion, seizures | |||||||||
| Febrile seizures | Not performed in first simple febrile seizures | Clinical diagnosis and EEG | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Family history of febrile seizures, viral illness or gastroenteritis | Age > 1 month, | ||||||
| Subdural empyema | ✔ | Clinical assesment and MRI | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | History of relapses and remissions | Blurry vision, urinary incontinence, fatigue | ||||
| Hypoglycemia | ↓ or ↑ | Serum blood glucose | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | History of diabetes | Palpitations, sweating, dizziness, low serum, glucose | |||||||
Differentiating bacterial meningitis from other causes of meningitis
| Cerebrospinal Fluid | |||||
| Normal Levels | Acute Bacterial M. | Acute Viral M. | TB M. | Neuroborreliosis | |
| Cells/ul | < 5 | In the 1000s | In the 100s | In the 100s | Some 100 |
| Cells | Lymph:Monos 7:3 | Gran. > Lymph. | Lymph. > Gran. | Various leukos | Lymph. monocytic |
| Total Protein (mg/dl) | 45-60 | Typically 100-500 | Typically normal | Typically 100-200 | Typically up to 350 |
| Glucose Ratio (CSF/plasma) | Typically > 0.5 | < 0.3 | > 0.6 | < 0.5 | Normal |
| Lactate (mmol/l) | < 2.1 | > 2.1 | < 2.1 | > 2.1 | - |
| Others | ICP: 6-22 (cm H2O) | PCR of HSV-DNA | PCR of TBC-DNA | IgG/IgM CSF/Serum Ratio |
References
- ↑ Soffer D (1976) Brain tumors simulating purulent meningitis. Eur Neurol 14 (3):192-7. PMID: 1278192
- ↑ Terheggen HG (1985) [CNS tumors with the clinical picture of meningitis.] Monatsschr Kinderheilkd 133 (1):13-9. PMID: 3883130
- ↑ Weston CL, Glantz MJ, Connor JR (2011). "Detection of cancer cells in the cerebrospinal fluid: current methods and future directions". Fluids Barriers CNS. 8 (1): 14. doi:10.1186/2045-8118-8-14. PMC 3059292. PMID 21371327.
- ↑ Yeh ST, Lee WJ, Lin HJ, Chen CY, Te AL, Lin HJ (2003) Nonaneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage secondary to tuberculous meningitis: report of two cases. J Emerg Med 25 (3):265-70. PMID: 14585453
- ↑ Lee MC, Heaney LM, Jacobson RL, Klassen AC (1975). "Cerebrospinal fluid in cerebral hemorrhage and infarction". Stroke. 6 (6): 638–41. PMID 1198628.
- ↑ Birenbaum D, Bancroft LW, Felsberg GJ (2011). "Imaging in acute stroke". West J Emerg Med. 12 (1): 67–76. PMC 3088377. PMID 21694755.
- ↑ DeLaPaz RL, Wippold FJ, Cornelius RS, Amin-Hanjani S, Angtuaco EJ, Broderick DF; et al. (2011). "ACR Appropriateness Criteria® on cerebrovascular disease". J Am Coll Radiol. 8 (8): 532–8. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2011.05.010. PMID 21807345.
- ↑ Liu LL, Zheng WH, Tong ML, Liu GL, Zhang HL, Fu ZG; et al. (2012). "Ischemic stroke as a primary symptom of neurosyphilis among HIV-negative emergency patients". J Neurol Sci. 317 (1–2): 35–9. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2012.03.003. PMID 22482824.
- ↑ Berger JR, Dean D (2014). "Neurosyphilis". Handb Clin Neurol. 121: 1461–72. doi:10.1016/B978-0-7020-4088-7.00098-5. PMID 24365430.
- ↑ Ho EL, Marra CM (2012). "Treponemal tests for neurosyphilis--less accurate than what we thought?". Sex Transm Dis. 39 (4): 298–9. doi:10.1097/OLQ.0b013e31824ee574. PMC 3746559. PMID 22421697.