Skip to main content
. 2017 Mar 21;64(12):1657–1662. doi: 10.1093/cid/cix240

Table 2.

Etiologies in 614 Patients With Community-Acquired Meningitis

Etiology CT Indicated (n = 207) CT Not Indicated (n = 407) P Valuea
Unknown 85 (41.0) 321 (78.9) <.001
Urgent treatableb 100 (48.3) 22 (5.4) <.001
Untreatablec 17 (8.2) 25 (6.1) .35
Nonurgent treatabled 5 (2.4) 38 (9.5) .01

Data are presented as No. (%) unless otherwise indicated.

Abbreviation: CT, computed tomography.

a P values comparing patients with an indication for CT before lumbar puncture vs those who lack indications.

bIncluding bacterial meningitis (n = 46), Cryptococcus neoformans (n = 51), herpes simplex virus encephalitis (n = 9), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (n = 3), varicella zoster virus (n = 3), central nervous system lymphoma (n = 1), systemic lupus erythematosus flare (n = 1), Toxoplasma gondii (n = 1), infective endocarditis (n = 1), histoplasmosis (n = 1), cerebral aneurysm (n = 1), epidural empyema (n = 1), Brucella (n = 1), and Escherichia coli urinary tract infection (n = 2).

cIncluding West Nile virus (n = 28), enterovirus (n = 12), St Louis encephalitis virus (n = 1), Epstein-Barr virus (n = 1).

dIncluding herpes simplex virus meningitis (n = 37), acute human immunodeficiency virus (n = 1), neurosyphilis (n = 1), multiple sclerosis (n = 1), influenza A virus (n = 1), and cytomegalovirus (n = 2).