Table 1.

Clinical and CSF findings in immunocompetent patients with VZV meningitis without rash. Qalb: albumin quotient (CSF albumin/serum albumin), OCB: oligoclonal bands, and ASI: antibody specific index ((CSF VZV-IgG/serum VZV-IgG)/(CSF total-IgG/serum total-IgG)). MRI results of patient 4: MRI revealed an ill-defined T2 hyperintensity in the right frontal lobe, extending from the cortical surface to the frontal horn of the lateral ventricle without mass effect, consistent with a hamartoma or cortical dysplasia. A follow-up MRI with gadolinium on day 10 was normal, with no change in the solitary T2 hyperintensity.

Patients	Age/ gender	Symptoms	Duration of symptoms (days)	Clinical signs	Previous diseases	Brain imaging	Cerebrospinal fluid								Reference
							Cells/μL	Cells (%)	Protein (mg/L)	Lactate (mmol/L)	Qalb	OCB	VZV DNA	VZV ASI
1	18/male	Headache, nausea, vomiting	9	Examination normal, no rash	None	MRI: normal	1720	96% lymphocytes, 3% plasma cells, 1% monocytes	1460	3.0	19.7	Type 3	50 000 copies/mL	74.9	Our case
		No symptoms	48	Examination normal, no rash	None	n.d.	19	95% lymphocytes, 5% monocytes	613	1.6	8.1	Type 3	Negative	21.5	Our case
2	53/female	Headache, nausea, photophobia, generalized body aches	3	Examination normal, no rash	Diabetes mellitus, bronchial asthma, bipolar disease	CT: mild atrophy	923	98% lymphocytes, 2% monocytes	1650	3.1	n.d.	n.d.	Positive	n.d.	Klein et al., 2010 [8]
3	12/male	Headache	4	Examination normal, no rash	Bronchial asthma	CT: normal	590	97% lymphocytes, 1% monocytes, 2% neutrophils	860	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	Positive	n.d.	Jhaveri et al., 2003 [5]
4	26/female	Headache, nausea, photophobia, vomiting	6	Examination normal, no rash	None	MRI (see legend)	331	99% mononuclear	2190	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	127 000 copies/mL	n.d.	Habib et al. 2009 [7]
5	14/male	Headache, photophobia, vomiting	7	Examination normal, no rash	Migraine	MRI: normal	285	n.d.	1580	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	Positive	n.d.	Leahy et al., 2008 [6]