. 2015 Jan 30;60(9):1377–1383. doi: 10.1093/cid/civ051

Table 3.

Cerebrospinal Fluid and Imaging Characteristics, by Etiology

Characteristic	CSF WBC, Median (IQR)	CSF RBC, Median (IQR)	CSF Protein, Median (IQR)	CSF Glucose, Median (IQR)
CSF characteristics
HSE cases (n = 60)	50 (22–76)	48 (12–77)	75 (48–105)	65 (54–74)
All non-HSE cases (n = 191)	32 (2–65)^a	33 (2–60)^a	57 (41–96)^a	65 (54–82)
Other non-HSE infectious cases (n = 48)	32 (7–79)	38 (12–66)	66 (47–158)	61 (43–68)
Autoimmune cases (n = 21)	38 (22–79)	27 (1–74)	54 (33–118)	61 (49–73)
Characteristic	Bilateral Temporal Lobe, No. (%)	Lesions Outside of Temporal Lobe, Cingulate, or Insula, No. (%)	Restricted Diffusion, No. (%)	Hemorrhage, No. (%)	Enhancement, No. (%)
MRI characteristics
HSE cases (n = 60)	12/56 (21)	17/56 (30)	16/56 (29)	5/56 (9)	22/56 (39)
All non-HSE cases (n = 191)	70/153^b (46)	89/158^b (56)	34/158 (22)	10/157 (6)	64/159 (40)
Other non-HSE infectious cases (n = 48)	19/39^c (49)	22/39^c (56)	13/39 (33)	0/39^c (0)	19/41 (46)
Autoimmune cases (n = 21)	10/19^d (53)	12/20^d (60)	5/20 (25)	2/20 (10)	10/20 (50)

Boldface indicates a statistically significant difference in characteristic between HSE and other etiologies.

Abbreviations: CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; HSE, herpes simplex encephalitis; IQR, interquartile range; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; RBC, red blood cell; TL, temporal lobe; WBC, white blood cell.

^a HSE compared with non-HSE cases: CSF WBC count, P = .003; CSF RBC count, P = .020; CSF protein, P = .043.

^b HSE compared with non-HSE cases: bilateral TL involvement, P = .001; lesions outside of TL, cingulate, or insula, P = .001.

^c HSE compared with other infectious cases: bilateral TL involvement, P = .005; lesions outside of TL, cingulate, or insula, P = .011; presence of hemorrhage, P = .055.

^d HSE compared with autoimmune cases: bilateral TL involvement, P = .010; lesions outside of TL, cingulate, or insula, P = .019.