TABLE 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of 134 patients suspected of having meningitis on admission
| Characteristic | Value for groupa
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purulent meningitis | Lymphocytic meningitis | Encephalitis | Nonmeningitis | |
| No. of patients | 48 | 49 | 5 | 32 |
| Female/male | 24/24 | 22/27 | 2/3 | 19/13 |
| Age (yr) | 26 (1-87) | 24 (3-42) | 55 (13-62) | 17 (1-76) |
| Underlying illnessf (%) | 23b | 4e | 0 | 16 |
| CSF WBC (106 cells/liter) | 1,350 (16-18,485)b, c, d | 130 (7-903)d, e | 93 (0-267)e | 1 (0-10)b, e |
| CSF neutrophils (106 cells/liter) | 1,080 (15-17,561)b, c, d | 21.6 (0-695.3)d, e | 8.5 (0-154.9)e | 0 (0)b, e |
| CSF lymphocytes (106 cells/liter) | 128.2 (0-1,657.1)d | 58.7 (2.4-452.1)d | 84.3 (0-104.1) | 0 (0)b, e |
| CSF monocytes (106 cells/liter) | 35.7 (0-326.4)d | 12.6 (1.2-1,889.4)d | 4.7 (0-8) | 0 (0)b, e |
| CSF glucose (mmol/liter) | 2.8 (0.1-6)d | 3.3 (2.5-4.6)d, e | 3.0 (2.1-3.1)e | 3.7 (2.9-7.2)d, c, e |
| CSF/blood glucose ratio | 0.42 (0.01-1.48)b, d | 0.61 (0.26-0.83)e | 0.54 (0.53-0.55) | 0.61 (0.45-1)e |
| CSF protein (g/liter) | 1.75 (0.1-18)b, d | 0.7 (0.2-2.2)d | 1.5 (0.8-10.7)d | 0.4 (0.1-0.9)b, c, e |
| Blood WBC (109 cells/liter) | 17.1 (5.5-220)b, c, d | 8.8 (2.8-16.9)e | 6.9 (5.6-8.1)e | 9.0 (3.3-24)e |
| Blood neutrophils (109 cells/liter) | 14.8 (3.5-31.7)b, d | 6.7 (2-14.2)e | 4.5 (4.2-4.8) | 5.9 (2.5-18.4)e |
| Blood lymphocytes (109 cells/liter) | 1.3 (1-193.5) | 1.4 (0.4-2.9) | 1.0 (0.6-1.4) | 1.6 (0.2-3.2) |
| Blood monocytes (109 cells/liter) | 0.7 (0-5.2)b | 0.4 (0.1-1.3)e | 0.4 (0.3-0.4) | 0.4 (0.1-3.1) |
| Back rigidity (%) | 85c, d | 91c, d | 25b, e | 41b, e |
| Decreased sensorium (%) | 53b, d | 0c, e | 100b, d | 11c, e |
| Days in hospital | 12 (7-53)b, d | 4 (1-10)b, d | 11 (11-65)c, e | 5 (1-29)c, e |
| Assisted ventilation (%) | 31b | 0c, d, e | 20b | 16b |
| Fatal outcome (%) | 13b | 0e | 0 | 6 |
a
Unless otherwise indicated, values are medians with minimums and maximums given in parentheses. Statistically significant differences between groups (Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn multiple-comparison tests for continual data, P <0.05; Pearson chi-square square test corrected for multiple comparisons with the Bonferroni coefficient for categorical data, P <0.05) are indicated.
b
Significant difference versus lymphocytic meningitis.
c
Significant difference versus encephalitis.
d
Significant difference versus nonmeningitis.
e
Significant difference versus purulent meningitis.
f
For example, malignancy, diabetes, drug abuse, or alcoholism.